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CIVIL  CHURCH  LAW 

NEW  YORK 


« 


63V33c 


UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SCHOOL  OF  LAW 
LIBRARY 


CIVIL  CHURCH  LAW 


EDITED  BY 

GEORGE  JAMES   BAYLES,  PH.D. 

LECTURER  IN 

THE  CIVIL  ASPECTS  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATION 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 


JAMES   POTT   &   CO. 
Fourth  Avenue  and  22?  Street 
New  York 
1898 


3  2.'^ 


■\ 


CN. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Editorial  Note. 


The  Constitutional  Guaranties,  p.  1. 
Grant  of  Corporate  Powers,  p.  1. 
Definitions,  p.  2. 

INCORPORATION  OF  CHURCHES. 

Notice  of  Meeting  for  Incorporation,  p.  3. 

The  Meeting  for  Incorporation,  p.  3. 

The  Certificate  of  Incorporation,  p.  5. 

Filing  and  Recording  Certificate,  p.  5. 

Time,  Place,  and  Notice  of  Corporate  Meetings,  p.  5. 

Organization  and  Conduct  of  Corporate  Meetings;  Quali- 
fication of  Voters  Thereat,  p.  6. 

Changing  Date  of  Annual  Corporate  Meetings,  p.  7. 

Changing  Number  of  Trustees,  p.  8. 

Meetings  of  Trustees,  p.  8. 

Creation  and  Filling  of  Vacancies  Among  Trustees  of 
Such  Churches,  p.  9. 

Control  of  Trustees  by  Corporate  Meetings  of  Such 
Churches,  p.  9. 

Consolidation  of  Incorporated  Churches,  p.  9. 

To  Maintain  Homes  for  Their  Aged  Poor,  p.  11. 

Corporations  for  Organizing  and  Maintaining  Mission 
Churches  and  Sunday-schools,  p.  11. 

Corporations  with  Governing  Power  Over  Churches,  p.  12. 

For  the  Dissolution  of  Religious  Societies,  Except  in  the 
City  and  County  of  New  York,  p.  13. 

Application  of  this  Chapter  to  Churches  Incorporated 
Prior  to  .January  First,  1828,  p.  14. 

Application  of  this  Chapter  to  Churches  Created  by  Spe- 
cial Laws,  p.  15. 

CHURCH  TRUSTEES. 
General  Powers  and  Duties  of  Trustees  of  Religious  Cor- 
porations, p.  16. 


Tahle  of  Contents. 

CHURCH  PROPERTY. 

Limitations  Upon  Property  and  Income  of  Religious  Cor- 
porations, Inheritance  Tax  Not  Applicable,  p.  19. 

Property  of  Unincorporated  Society  Transferred  by  Its 
Incorporation,  p.  19. 

Correction  and  Confirmation  of  Conveyances  to  Religious 
Corporations,  p.  20. 

Judicial  Investigation  of  Amount  of  Property  of  Reli- 
gious Corporations,  p.  21. 

Acquisition  of  Property  by  Religious  Corporations  for 
Branch  Institutions,  Establishment,  Maintenance, 
and  Management  Thereof,  p.  22. 

Acquisition  of  Property  by  Two  or  More  Religious  Cor- 
porations for  a  Common  Parsonage,  p.  23. 

Acquisition  of  Property  by  Religious  Corporations  for 
Cemetery  Purposes;  Management  Thereof,  p.  23. 

Sale,  Mortgage,  and  Lease  of  Real  Property  of  Religious 
Corporations,  p.  24. 

Property  of  Extinct  Churches,  p.  25. 

Mortmain  Restrictions,  p.  25. 

Places  in  Which  Traffic  in  Liquor  Shall  Not  Be  Permitted, 
p.  26. 

Exemption  from  Taxation,  p.  26. 

BAPTIST  CHURCHES. 

Notice  of  Meeting  for  Incorporation,  p.  29. 

The  Meeting  for  Incorporation,  p.  29. 

The  Certificate  of  Incorporation,  p.  30. 

Time,  Place,  and  Notice  of  Corporate  Meetings,  p.  31. 

Organization  and  Conduct  of  Corporate  Meetings;  Quali- 
fications of  Voters  Thereat,  p.  31. 

Changing  Date  of  Annual  Corporate  Meetings,  p.  32. 

Changing  Number  of  Trustees,  p.  32. 

Meetings  of  Trustees,  p.  33. 

The  Creation  and  Filling  of  Vacancies  Among  Trustees 
of  Such  Churches,  p.  33. 

Property  of  Extinct  Baptist  Churches,  p.  33. 

Baptist  Missionary  Convention,  p.  34. 

Free  Baptist  Churches,  p.  36. 


Table  of  Contents. 

CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 

Notice  of  Meeting  for  Incorporation,  p.  38. 

The  Meeting  for  Incorporation,  p.  38. 

The  Certificate  of  Incorporation,  p.  39. 

Time,  Place,  and  Notice  of  Corporate  Meetings,  p.  40. 

Organization  and  Conduct  of  Corporate  Meetings;  Quali- 
fication of  Voters,  p.  40. 

Changing  Date  of  Annual  Corporate  Meetings,  p.  41. 

Changing  the  Number  of  Trustees,  p.  41. 

Meetings  of  Trustees,  p.  42. 

The  Creation  and  Filling  of  Vacancies  Among  Trustees 
of  Such  Churches,  p.  42. 

Limitation  of  Powers  of  Trustees,  p.  42. 

Election  and  Salary  of  Ministers,  p.  43. 

Transfer  of  Property  to  Other  Corporations,  p.  43. 

EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 
Decision  by  Lutheran  Churches  as  to  System  of  Incorpora- 
tion and  Government,  p.  4.5. 

FREE  CHURCHES. 
How  Incorporated,  p.  47. 
Powers,  Limitations  Upon  Property,  Liability  of  Trustees, 

p.  47. 
Vacancies  in  Boards,  p.  48. 
Pews  to  Be  Free,  p.  48. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCHES. 
Corporations   for  Acquiring   Parsonages   for   Presiding 
Elders  and  Camp-Meeting  Grounds,  p.  49. 

PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCHES. 

The  Meeting  for  Incorporation,  p.  52. 

The  Certificate  of  Incorporation,  p.  53. 

Corporate  Trustees,  ^'estry,  Powers,  and  Duties  Thereof, 
p.  54. 

Annual  Elections  of  Incorporated  Protestant  Episcopal 
Parishes,  p.  55. 

Changing  the  Number  of  Vestrymen  of  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Parishes  Hereafter  Incorporated,  p.  57. 


Table  of  Contents, 

Changing  Date  of  Annual  Election,  Number  and  Term  of 
Office  of  Church  Wardens  in  Protestant  Episcopal 
Churches  Heretofore  Incorporated,  p.  58. 

Changing  the  Qualification  of  Voters  and  the  Qualifica- 
tions of  Wardens  and  Vestrymen,  p.  59. 

REFORMED  DUTCH,  PRESBYTERIAN,  REFORMED 

PRESBYTERIAN,  AND  EVANGELICAL 

LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 

Decision  by  Lutheran  and  Presbyterian  Churches  as  to 
the  System  of  Incorporation  and  Government,  p.  60. 

Incorporation  of  Reformed  Dutch,  Presbyterian,  Re- 
formed Presbyterian,  and  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Churches  Under  this  Article,  p.  61. 

Evangelical  Lutheran  and  Presbyterian  Churches,  Chang- 
ing System  of  Electing  Trustees,  p.  62. 

ROMAN  CATHOLIC  AND  GREEK  CHURCHES. 
Incorporation  of  Roman  Catholic  and  Greek  Churches,  p. 

65. 
Government  of  Incorporated  Roman  Catholic  and  Greek 

Churches,  p.  65. 

SHAKERS  AND   FRIENDS. 
Trusts  for  Shakers  and  Friends,  p.  67. 
Conveyance  of  Trust  Property  of  Friends,  p.  68. 

UNION  CHURCHES. 
Incorporation  of  a  Union  Church,  p.  69. 
Government  of  Incorporated  Union  Churches,  p.  70. 

UNITED  BRETHREN  IN  CHRIST. 
Trustees  of  a  Church  in  Connection  with  the   United 
Brethren  in  Christ,  p.  72. 


Note. — Under  the  general  title  of  Civil  Church  Law  it  is 
purposed  to  edit  a  series  of  digests  presenting  the  statute 
law  affecting  religious  organizations  as  it  is  being  devel- 
oped in  the  American  commonwealths. 

Such  law  is  not  now  easily  accessible  to  the  great  body 
of  church  people,  yet  with  the  rapid  development  of 
church  as  one  of  the  great  institutions  of  American  so- 
ciety there  is  more  and  more  use  for  it.  Again,  the  time 
has  passed  when  even  the  chief  features  of  the  civil  church 
law  of  all  the  commonwealths  could  with  convenience  be 
presented  in  a  single  volume,  and  those  bearing  church 
responsibilities  generally  need  to  know  only  the  law"  di- 
rectly defining  their  duties  and  rights. 

American  statute  legislation  relating  to  ecclesiastical 
organization  is  developing  rapidly.  It  is  evident  that  we 
are  in  the  midst  of  a  general  movement  for  the  broader 
introduction  of  purely  ecclesiastical  elements  into  the 
civil  law,  creating  not  indeed  a  civil  establishment  of 
religion,  but  more  and  more  of  a  legal  establishment  of 
church. 

In  order  to  set  forth  this  body  of  law  as  it  develops,  in 
the  form  best  adapted  to  serve  the  interests  of  the  whole 
body  of  church  people,  the  plan  of  a  series  of  State  digests 
has  been  adopted.  The  type  for  these  digests  will  be  kept 
standing,  and  the  changes  in  the  law  of  each  State  will  be 
presented  annually.  To  extend  the  benefit  of  this  watch 
on  legislation  for  churches  to  the  churches  themselves  it 
has  been  arranged  that  subscribers  to  any  State  digest 
shall  receive  free  of  charge  for  a  period  of  three  years 
after  their  subscription  copy  of  all  further  legislation  af- 
fecting religious  organizations.  If,  however,  a  general 
revision  of  the  law  should  be  effected  during  such  a  period, 
the  editor  reserves  the  right  to  bring  out  another  edition. 

The  general  arrangement  of  the  law  will  probably  be 
the  same  for  each  digest :  the  constitutional  guaranties  of 
religious  liberty,  the  general  provisions  for  the  incorpora- 
tion of  religious  organizations  and  their  regulation  after 


Note. 


incorporation,  the  powers  and  duties  of  church  trustees, 
and  the  special  provisions  for  particular  denominations. 
This  arrangement  will  not  always  follow  the  sequence  of 
the  statutes. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  GUARANTIES,  CORPORATE 
POWERS,  DEFINITIONS. 

The  Constitutional  Guaranties. — The  free  exercise  and 
enjoyment  of  religious  profession  and  worship,  without 
discrimination  or  preference,  shall  forever  be  allowed  in 
this  State  to  all  mankind;  and  no  person  shall  be  rendered 
incompetent  to  be  a  witness  on  account  of  his  opinions 
on  matters  of  religious  belief;  but  the  liberty  of  con- 
science hereby  secured  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to 
excuse  acts  of  licentiousness,  or  justify  practices  incon- 
sistent with  the  peace  and  safety  of  this  State. —  §  3, 
Art.  1,  State  Constitution. 

Corporations  may  be  formed  under  general  laws;  but 
shall  not  be  created  by  special  act,  except  for  municipal 
purposes,  and  in  cases  where,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
legislature,  the  objects  of  the  corporation  cannot  be  ob- 
tained under  general  laws.  All  general  laws  and  special 
acts  passed  pursuant  to  this  section  may  be  altered  from 
time  to  time  or  repealed. — Art.  VIII. 

Neither  the  credit  nor  the  money  of  the  State  shall  be 
given,  or  loaned  to,  or  in  aid  of,  any  association,  corpora- 
tion, or  private  undertaking. — Art.  IX. 

Grant  of  Corporate  powers. — Every  corporation  as  such 
has  power,  though  not  specified  in  the  law  under  which 
it  is  incorporated : 

1.  To  have  succession  for  the  period  specified  in  its  cer- 
tificate of  incorporation  or  by-law,  and  perpetually  when 
no  period  is  specified. 

2.  To  have  a  common  seal,  and  alter  the  same  at 
pleasure. 

3.  To  acquire  by  grant,  gift,  purchase,  devise,  or  be- 
quest, to  hold  and  to  dispose  of  such  property  as  the  pur- 
poses of  the  corporation  shall  require,  subject  to  such  lim- 
itations as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

4.  To  appoint  such  officers  and  agents  as  its  business 
shall  require,  and  to  fix  their  compensation,  and 

5.  To  make  by-laws,  not  inconsistent  with  any  exist- 
ing law,  for  the  management  of  its  property,  the  regula- 


2  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

tion  of  its   affairs, and  tlie 

calling  of  meetings  of  its  members. 

By-laws  duly  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  members  of 
the  corporation  shall  control  the  action  of  its  directors. 
—Chap.  687,  Laws  1892. 

Definitions.— A  religious  corporation  is  a  corporation 
created  for  religious  purposes. 

An  incorporated  church  is  a  religious  corporation 
created  to  enable  its  members  to  meet  for  divine  worship 
or  other  religious  observances. 

An  unincorporated  church  is  a  congregation,  society, 
or  other  assemblage  of  persons  who  are  accustomed  to 
statedly  meet  for  divine  worship  or  other  religious  ob- 
servances, without  having  been  incorporated  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

The  term  minister,  includes  a  clergyman,  pastor,  rec- 
tor, priest,  rabbi,  or  other  person  having  authority  from, 
or  in  accordance  with,  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
governing  ecclesiastical  body  of  the  denomination  or 
order,  if  any,  to  which  the  church  belongs,  or  otherwise 
from  the  church,  to  preside  over  and  direct  the  spiritual 
affairs  of  the  church. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 


INCORPORATION  OF  CHURCHP:S,  GENERAL  PRO> 

VISIONS. 

Notice  of  meeting  for  incorporation. — Notice  of  a  meet- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  an  unincorporated 
church,  to  which  this  article  is  applicable,  shall  be  given 
as  follows: 

The  notice  shall  be  in  writing,  and  shall  state,  in  sub- 
stance, that  a  meeting  of  such  unincorporated  church  will 
be  held  at  its  usual  place  of  worship  at  a  specified  day  and 
hour,  for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  such  church  and 
electing  trustees  thereof. 

The  notice  must  be  signed  by  at  least  six  persons  of 
full  age,  who  are  then  members  in  good  and  regular  stand- 
ing of  such  church  by  admission  into  full  communion  or 
membership  therewith,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and 
regulations  of  such  church,  and  of  the  governing  ecclesias- 
tical body  of  the  denomination  or  order,  if  any,  to  which 
the  church  belongs,  or  who  have  statedly  worshiped 
with  such  church,  and  have  regularly  contributed  to  the 
financial  support  thereof  during  the  year  next  prior  there- 
to, or  from  the  time  of  the  formation  thereof. 

A  copy  of  such  notice  shall  be  posted  conspicuously 
on  the  outside  of  the  main  entrance  to  such  place  of  wor- 
ship, at  least  fifteen  days  before  the  day  so  specified  for 
such  meeting,  and  shall  be  publicly  read  at  each  of  the 
two  next  preceding  regular  meetings  of  such  unincorpor- 
ated church  for  public  worship,  at  least  one  week  apart, 
at  morning  service,  if  such  service  be  held,  on  Sunday,  if 
Sunday  be  the  day  for  such  regular  meetings,  by  the  first- 
named  of  the  following  persons  who  is  present  thereat,  to 
wit:  The  minister  of  such  church,  the  oflflciating  minister 
thereof,  the  elders  thereof  in  the  order  of  their  age,  be- 
ginning with  the  eldest,  the  deacons  of  the  church  in  the 
order  of  the  age,  beginning  with  the  eldest,  any  person 
qualified  to  sign  such  notice. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

The  meeting  for  incorporation. — At  the  meeting  for  in- 
corporation held  in  pursuance  of  such  notice,  the  follow- 
ing persons,  and  no  others,  shall  be  qualified  voters,  to 
wit:  All  persons  of  full  age,  who  are  then  members,  in 


4  Civil  Church  Laic — New  Yorl\ 

good  and  regular  standing  of  such  church  by  admission 
into  full  communion  or  membership  therewith,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  rules  and  regulations  thereof,  and  of 
the  governing  ecclesiastical  body,  if  any,  of  the  denom- 
ination, or  order,  to  which  the  church  belongs,  or  who 
have  statedly  worshiped  with  such  church,  and  have 
regularly  contributed  to  the  financial  support  thereof 
during  the  year  next  preceding  such  meeting,  or  from  the 
time  of  the  formation  thereof. 

The  presence  of  a  majority  of  such  qualified  voters,  at 
least  six  in  number,  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a 
quorum  of  such  meeting.  The  action  of  the  meeting  upon 
any  matter  or  question  shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of 
the  qualified  voters  voting  thereon,  a  quorum  being  pres- 
ent. 

The  first-named  of  the  following  persons,  who  is  pres- 
ent at  such  meeting,  shall  preside  thereat,  to  wit:  The 
minister  of  the  church,  the  officiating  minister  thereof, 
the  elders  thereof  in  the  order  of  their  age,  beginning  with 
the  eldest,  the  deacons  thereof  in  the  order  of  their  age, 
beginning  with  the  eldest,  any  qualified  voter  elected  to 
preside.  The  presiding  oflicer  of  the  meeting  shall  re- 
ceive the  votes,  be  the  judge  of  the  qualifications  of 
voters,  and  declare  the  result  of  the  votes  cast  on  any 
matter.  The  polls  of  his  meeting  shall  remain  open  for 
one  hour,  and  longer,  in  the  discretion  of  the  presiding 
officer,  or,  if  required,  by  a  majority  of  the  voters  present. 

Such  meeting  shall  decide  whether  such  unincorpor- 
ated church  shall  become  incorporated.  If  such  decision 
shall  be  in  favor  of  incorporation,  such  meeting  shall  de- 
cide upon  the  name  of  the  proposed  corporation,  the  num- 
ber of  the  trustees  thereof,  which  shall  be  three,  six,  or 
nine,  and  shall  determine  the  date,  not  more  than  fifteen 
months  thereafter,  on  which  the  first  annual  election  of 
the  trustees  thereof  after  such  meeting  shall  be  held. 
S'uch  meeting  shall  elect  from  the  persons  qualified  to 
vote  at  such  meeting,  one-third  of  the  number  of  trustees 
so  decided  on,  who  shall  hold  office  until  the  first  annual 
election  of  trustees  thereafter,  one-third  of  such  number 


Certificate  of  Invorporation.  5 

of  trustees  to  hold  office  until  the  second  annual  election 
of  trustees  thereafter,  and  one-third  of  such  number  of 
trustees  to  hold  office  until  the  third  annual  election  of 
trustees  thereafter. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

The  certificate  of  incorporation.  —  The  presiding  of- 
ficer of  such  meeting  and  at  least  two  other  persons  pres- 
ent and  voting  thereat  shall  execute  and  acknowledge 
a  certificate  of  incorporation,  setting  forth  the  matters 
so  determined  at  such  meeting,  the  trustees  elected  there- 
at, and  the  terms  of  office  for  which  they  were  respectively 
elected,  and  the  county,  town,  city,  or  village,  in  which 
its  principal  place  of  worship  is  or  is  intended  to  be  lo- 
cated. On  filing  such  certificate  the  members  of  such 
church  and  the  persons  qualified  to  vote  at  such  meeting, 
and  who  shall  thereafter  from  time  to  time  be  qualified 
voters  at  the  corporate  meetings  thereof,  shall  be  the  cor- 
poration by  the  name  stated  in  such  certificate,  and  the 
persons  therein  stated  to  be  elected  trustees  of  such 
church  shall  be  the  trustees  thereof,  for  the  terms  for 
which  they  were  respectively  so  elected. — Chap.  723, 
Laws  1895. 

Filing  and  recording  certificates  of  incorporation  of 
religious  corporations.  —  The  certificate  of  incorporation 
of  a  religious  corporation  shall  be  acknowledged  or 
proved  before  an  officer  authorized  to  take  the  acknowl- 
edgment or  proof  of  deeds  or  conveyances  of  real  estate, 
to  be  recorded  in  the  county  in  which  the  principal  of- 
fice or  place  of  worship  of  said  corporation  is  or  is  in- 
tended to  be  situated,  and  shall  be  filed  and  recorded  in 
the  office  of  the  clerk  of  said  county.  If  there  is  not,  or  is 
not  intended  to  be,  any  such  office  or  place  of  worship,  the 
certificate  shall  be  filed  and  recorded  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  State.— Chap.  336,  Laws  189(). 

Time,  place,  and  notice  of  corporate  meetings. — The 
annual  corporate  meeting  of  every  incorporated  church  to 
which  these  provisions  are  applicable  shall  be  held  at  the 
time  and  place  fixed  by  or  in  pursuance  of  law  therefor,  if 
such  time  and  place  be  so  fixed,  and  otherwise,  at  a  time 
and  place  to  be  fixed  by  its  trustees.     A  special  corporate 


6  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

meeting  of  any  such  church  may  be  called  by  the  board  of 
trustees  thereof,  on  its  own  motion  or  on  the  written  re- 
quest of  at  least  ten  qualified  voters  of  such  church.  The 
trustees  shall  cause  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  its 
annual  corporate  meeting,  therein  specifying  the  names 
of  any  trustees,  whose  successors  are  to  be  elected  thereat, 
and,  if  a  special  meeting,  specifying  the  business  to  be 
transacted  thereat,  to  be  given  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the 
church  for  public  worship,  at  morning  service,  if  such  ser- 
vice be  held,  on  each  of  the  two  successive  Sundays  next 
preceding  such  meeting,  if  Sunday  be  the  regular  day 
for  such  public  worship,  and  public  worship  be  had  there- 
on, or  otherwise  at  a  regular  meeting  of  such  church  for 
public  worship  on  each  of  two  days  at  least  one  week 
apart  next  preceding  such  meeting,  or  if  no  such  public 
worship  be  held  during  such  period,  by  conspicuously 
posting  such  notice,  in  writing,  upon  the  outer  entrance 
to  the  principal  place  of  worship  of  such  church.  Such 
notice  shall  be  given  by  the  minister  of  the  church,  if 
there  be  one,  or  if  not,  or  if  any  such  minister  refuse  to 
give  such  notice,  by  any  officer  of  such  church.  But  a 
special  corporate  meeting  of  an  incorporated  Presbyte- 
rian church  to  elect  a  pastor  of  such  church  or  to  take  ac- 
tion in  reference  to  the  dissolution  of  the  relations  of 
the  pastor  and  the  church,  may  be  only  by  the  session 
of  such  church.  They  may  call  such  meeting  whenever 
the}^  deem  it  advisable  to  do  so,  or  upon  the  request  to 
them,  by  petition,  of  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of 
such  corporation,  they  must  call  such  meeting.  They 
shall  give  notice  of  such  meeting  in  either  case,  in  the 
manner  in  which  this  chapter  provided  in  a  notice  of  a 
special  meeting. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

Organization  and  conduct  of  corporate  meetings ;  qualifi- 
cation of  voters  thereat. — At  a  corporate  meeting  of  an 
incorporated  church  to  which  these  provisions  are  appli- 
cable, the  following  persons,  and  no  others,  shall  be  quali- 
fied voters,  to  wit:  All  persons  of  full  age,  who  are  then 
members  in  good  and  regular  standing  of  such  church  by 
admission  into   full   communion   or  membership  there- 


Corporate  Meetings.  7 

with,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  regulations  there- 
of, and  of  the  governing  ecclesiastical  body,  if  any,  of  the 
denomination  or  order  to  which  the  church  belongs,  or 
who  have  been  stated  attendants  on  divine  worship  in 
such  church,  and  have  regularly  contributed  to  the  finan- 
cial support  thereof  during  the  year  next  preceding  such 
meeting ;  except  that  at  a  corporate  meeting  of  any  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn  only  per- 
sons who  shall  have  been  members  thereof  for  at  least 
one  year  prior  thereto  shall  be  qualified  voters;  and  any 
incorporated  church  in  connection  with  the  Congrega- 
tional denomination  may  at  any  annual  corporate  meeting 
thereof,  if  notice  of  the  intention  so  to  do  has  been  given 
with  the  notice  of  such  meeting,  determine  that  there- 
after only  members  of  such  church  shall  be  qualified 
voters  at  corporate  meetings  thereof. 

The  presence  at  such  meeting  of  at  least  six  persons 
qualified  to  vote  thereat  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute 
a  quorum.  The  action  of  the  meeting  upon  any  matter  or 
question  shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  voting  theron,  a  quorum  being  present. 

The  first  named  of  the  following  persons  who  is  pres- 
ent at  such  meeting  shall  preside  thereat,  to  wit:  The 
minister  of  such  church,  the  officiating  minister  thereof, 
the  officers  thereof  in  the  order  of  their  age,  beginning 
with  the  eldest,  any  qualified  voters  elected  therefor  at 
the  meeting.  The  presiding  officer  of  the  meeting  shall 
receive  the  votes,  be  the  judge  of  the  qualifications  of 
voters,  and  declare  the  result  of  the  votes  cast  on  any 
matter.  The  polls  of  an  annual  corporate  meeting  shall 
continue  open  for  one  hour,  and  longer  in  the  discretion  of 
the  presiding  officer,  or,  if  required,  by  a  majority  of  the 
qualified  voters  present. 

At  each  annual  corporate  meeting  successors  to  those 
trustees  whose  terms  of  office  then  expire,  shall  be  elected 
from  the  qualified  voters  by  ballot,  for  a  term  of  three 
years  thereafter. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

Changing  date  of  annual  corporate  meetings. — An 
annual  corporate  meeting  of  an  incorporated  church  to 


8  Civil  Church   Imic—Nch-  Yorl: 

which  these  provisions  are  applicable  may  change  the 
date  of  its  annual  meeting  thereafter.  If  such  date  shall 
next  thereafter  occur  less  than  six  months  after  the  an- 
nual meeting  at  which  such  change  is  made,  the  next  an- 
nual meeting  shall  be  held  one  year  from  such  next  re- 
curring date.  For  the  purpose  of  determining  the  terms 
of  office  of  trustees,  the  time  between  the  annual  meeting 
at  which  such  change  is  made,  and  the  next  annual  meet- 
ing thereafter,  shall  be  reckoned  as  one  year. — Chap.  723, 
Laws  1895. 

Changing  number  of  trustees. — An  incorporated  church 
to  which  these  provisions  are  applicable  may,  at  an  an- 
nual corporate  meeting,  change  the  number  of  its  trustees 
to  three,  six,  or  nine,  or  classify  them  so  that  the  terms 
of  one-third  expire  each  year.  No  such  change  shall  af- 
fect the  terms  of  the  trustees  then  in  office,  and  if  the 
change  reduces  the  number  of  trustees,  it  shall  not  take 
effect  until  the  number  of  trustees  whose  terms  of  office 
continue  for  one  or  more  years  after  an  annual  election,  is 
less  than  the  number  determined  upon.  Whenever  the 
number  of  trustees  so  holding  over  is  less  than  the  num- 
ber so  determined  on,  trustees  shall  be  elected  in  addi- 
tion to  those  so  holding  over,  sufficient  to  make  the  num- 
ber of  trustees  for  the  ensuing  year  equal  to  the  number 
so  determined  on.  The  trustees  so  elected  up  to  and 
including  one-third  of  the  number  so  determined  on, 
shall  be  elected  for  three  years,  the  remainder  up  to  and 
including  one-third  of  the  number  so  determined  on  for 
two  years,  and  the  remainder  for  one  year. — Chap.  723, 
Laws  1895. 

rieetings  of  trustees. — Two  of  the  trustees  of  an  incor- 
f)orated  church  to  which  these  provisions  are  applicable 
may  call  a  meeting  of  such  trustees  by  giving  at  least 
twenty-four  hours'  notice  thereof  personally  or  by  mail  to 
the  other  trustees.  A  majority  of  the  trustees  lawfully 
convened  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of 
business.  In  case  of  a  tie  vote  at  a  meeting  of  the  trus- 
tees, the  presiding  officer  of  such  meeting  shall,  notwith- 


Trustees.  9 

standing  that  he  has  voted  once,  have  an  additional  cast- 
ing vote. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

The  creation  and  filling  of  vacancies  among  trustees 
of  such  churches. — If  any  trustee  of  an  incorporated 
church  to  which  these  provisions  are  applicable  declines 
to  act,  resigns,  or  dies,  or,  having  been  a  member  of  such 
church,  ceases  to  be  such  member,  or  not  having  been  a 
member  of  such  church,  ceases  to  be  a  qualified  voter  at  a 
corporate  meeting  thereof,  his  office  shall  be  vacant  and 
such  vacancy  may  be  filled  by  the  remaining  trustees 
until  the  next  annual  corporate  meeting  of  such  church, 
at  which  meeting  the  vacancy  shall  be  filled  for  the  un- 
expired term. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

Control  of  trustees  by  corporate  meetings  of  such 
churches. — A  corporate  meeting  of  an  incorporated 
church  whose  trustees  are  elected  as  such,  may  give  di- 
rections, not  inconsistent  with  law,  as  to  the  manner 
in  which  any  of  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  church  shall  be 
administered  by  the  trustees  thereof;  and  such  direc- 
tions shall  be  followed  by  the  trustees.  The  trustees  of 
an  incorporated  church  to  which  these  provisions  are  ap- 
plicable shall  have  no  power  to  settle,  or  remove,  or  fix 
the  salary  of  the  minister,  or  without  the  consent  of  a 
corporate  meeting,  to  incur  debts  beyond  what  is  neces- 
sary for  the  care  of  the  property  of  the  corporation;  or  to 
fix,  or  change  the  time,  nature,  or  order  of  the  public  or 
social  worship  of  such  church,  except  when  such  trustees 
are  also  the  spiritual  officers  of  such  church. — Chap.  723, 
Laws  1895. 

Consolidation  of  incorporated  Churches. — Two  or  more 
incorporated  churches  may  enter  into  an  agreement, 
under  their  respective  corporate  seals,  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  such  corporations,  setting  forth  the  name  of  the 
proposed  new  corporation,  the  denomination,  if  any,  to 
which  it  is  to  belong,  and  if  the  churches  of  such  denomi- 
nation have  more  than  one  method  of  choosing  trustees, 
by  which  of  such  methods  the  trustees  are  to  be  chosen, 
the  number  of  such  trustees,  the  names  of  the  persons  to 
be  the  first  trustees  of  the  new  corporation,  and  the  date 


10  Civil  Church  Laic — Nciv  Yorl'. 

of  its  first  annual  corporate  meeting.  Such  agreement 
shall  not  be  valid  unless  approved  by  the  governing  body 
of  the  denomination,  if  any,  to  which  each  church  belongs, 
having  jurisdiction  over  such  church.  Each  corporation 
shall  thereupon  make  a  separate  petition  to  the  supreme 
court  for  an  order  consolidating  the  corporation,  setting 
forth  the  denomination,  if  any,  to  which  the  church  be- 
longs, that  the  consent  of  the  governing  body  to  the  con- 
solidation, if  any,  of  that  denomination  having  jurisdic- 
tion over  such  church  has  been  obtained,  the  agreement 
therefor,  and  a  statement  of  all  the  property  and  liabili- 
ties, and  the  amount  and  sources  of  the  annual  income 
of  such  petitioning  organization.  In  its  discretion  the 
court  may  direct  that  notice  of  the  hearing  of  such  peti- 
tion be  given  to  the  parties  interested  therein  in  such 
manner  and  for  such  time  as  it  may  prescribe.  After 
hearing  all  the  parties  interested,  present  and  desiring  to 
be  heard,  the  court  may  make  an  order  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  corporations  on  the  terms  of  such  agreement, 
and  such  other  terms  and  conditions  as  it  may  prescribe, 
specifying  the  name  of  such  new  corporation  and  the  first 
trustees  thereof,  and  the  method  by  which  their  succes- 
sors shall  be  chosen  and  the  date  of  its  first  annual  cor- 
porate meeting.  When  such  order  is  made  and  duly  en- 
tered, the  persons  constituting  such  corporations  shall 
become  an  incorporated  church  by,  and  said  petitioning 
churches  shall  become  consolidated  under,  the  name 
designated  in  the  order,  and  the  trustees  therein  named 
shall  be  the  first  trustees  thereof,  and  the  future  trustees 
thereof  shall  be  chosen  by  the  method  therein  designated, 
and  all  the  estate,  rights,  powers,  and  property  of  what- 
soever nature,  belonging  to  either  corporation  shall,  with- 
out further  act  or  deed,  be  vested  and  transferred  to  the 
new  corporation  as  effectually  as  they  were  vested  in  or 
belonged  to  the  former  corporations;  and  the  said  new 
corporation  shall  be  liable  for  all  the  debts  and  liabilities 
of  the  former  corporations  in  the  same  manner  and  as 
effectually  as  if  said  debts  or  liabilities  had  been  con- 
tracted or  incurred  by  the  new  corporation.     A  certified 


Homes,  Mission  Churches.  11 

copy  of  such  order  shall  be  recorded  in  the  book  for  re- 
cording certificates  of  incorporation  in  each  county 
clerk's  office  in  which  the  certificate  of  incorporation  of 
each  consolidating  church  was  recorded;  or  if  no  such  cer- 
tificate was  so  recorded,  then  in  the  clerk's  office  of  the 
county  in  which  the  principal  place  of  worship  or  prin- 
cipal office  of  the  new  corporation  is,  or  is  intended  to  be, 
situated.^ — Chap.  56,  Laws  1896. 

To  maintain  homes  for  their  aged  poor. — An  incor- 
porated church  or  congregation  in  this  State,  either  by 
itself,  or  in  conjunction  with  other  incorporated  churches 
or  congregations,  shall  have  power  to  establish  and  main- 
tain by  its  or  their  trustees,  or  other  officers,  as  part  of  its 
or  their  regular  church  and  charitable  work,  a  home  for 
the  aged  poor  of  its  or  their  membership  or  congregation, 
and  may  take  and  hold  as  joint  tenants,  tenants  in 
common,  or  otherwise,  by  conveyance,  donation,  bequest, 
or  device,  real  and  personal  property  for  such  purpose, 
and  may  purchase  and  erect  suitable  buildings  therefor. 

Any  such  church  or  congregation,  with  other  incorpo- 
rated churches  or  congregations,  may  take  and  hold  any 
grant,  donation,  bequest,  or  devise  of  real  or  personal 
property  heretofore  made,  upon  trust,  and  apply  the  same 
or  the  income  thereof  under  the  direction  of  the  trustees 
or  other  officers  having  charge  of  the  temporalities  of 
such  church,  or  churches,  or  congregation,  or  congrega- 
tions, for  the  purpose  of  establishing  or  maintaining  such 
a  home,  and  for  the  erection,  preservation,  repair,  or  ex- 
tension of  any  buildiug  or  buildings  for  such  purpose, 
upon  such  terms  and  conditions,  and  subject  to  such  con- 
ditions, limitations,  and  restrictions,  as  shall  be  con- 
tained in  the  deed,  will  or  other  instrument  or  conveyance 
by  which  the  property  is  given,  transferred,  or  conveyed. 

This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. — Chap.  473, 
Laws  1898.     Approved  April  22. 

Corporations  for  organizing  and  maintaining  mission 
churches  and  Sunday=schools. — Ten  or  more  members  of 
two  or  more  incorporated  churches  may  become  a  corpora- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  organizing  and  maintaining  mis- 


12  Civil  Church  Law— New  York. 

sion  churches  and  Sunday-schools,  and  of  acquiring  prop- 
erty therefor,  by  executing  a  certificate  stating  the  name 
of  such  corporation,  the  city  in  which  its  principal  office  or 
church  or  school  is,  or  is  intended  to  be,  located;  the  num- 
ber of  trustees  to  manage  its  affairs,  which  shall  be  three, 
six,  or  nine,  and  the  names  of  the  trustees  for  the  first 
year  of  its  existence,  which  certificates  shall  be  acknowl- 
edged or  proved  and  filed  as  hereinbefore  provided. 
Whenever  a  mission  church  established  by  such  corpora- 
tion becomes  self-sustaining,  such  mission-church  may 
become  incorporated  and  shall  be  governed  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  for  the  incorporation  and  govern- 
ment of  a  church  of  the  religious  denomination  to  which 
such  mission  church  belongs,  and  thereon  such  parent 
corporation  may  convey  to  such  incorporated  church  the 
property  connected  therewith. — Chap.  336,  Laws  1896. 

Corporations  with  governing  authority  over  churches. — 
An  unincorporated  diocesan  convention,  presbytery, 
classis,  synod,  annual  conference,  or  other  ecclesiasti- 
cal governing  body,  having  jurisdiction  over  several 
churches,  may  at  a  stated  meeting  thereof  determine  to 
become  incorporated  by  a  designated  name,  and  may  by 
a  plurality  vote  elect  nji^t  less  than  three  nor  more  than 
nine  persons  to  be  the  first  trustees  of  such  corporation. 
The  presiding  officer  and  clerk  of  such  governing  body 
shall  execute  and  acknowledge  a  certificate  stating  that 
such  proceedings  were  duly  taken  as  herein  provided,  the 
name  by  which  such  corporation  is  to  be  known,  and  the 
names  of  such  first  trustees.  On  filing  such  certificate, 
the  members  of  such  governing  body  and  their  succes- 
sors shall  be  a  corporation  by  the  name  stated  in  the  cer- 
tificate, and  the  persons  named  as  trustees  therein  shall 
be  the  first  trustees  thereof. 

The  trustees  of  every  incorporated  governing  body  and 
their  successors  shall  hold  their  offices  during  the  pleas- 
ure of  such  body,  which  may  remove  them  and  fill  vacan- 
cies in  accordance  with  its  rules  and  regulations.  Such 
corporation  may  take,  administer,  and  dispose  of  prop- 
erty for  the  benefit  of  such  governing  body,  or  of  any 


Dissolution.  13 

parish,  congregation,  society,  church,  mission,  religious, 
benevolent,  charitable,  or  educational  institution  existing 
or  acting  under  it. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

For  the  dissolution  of  religious  societies,  except  in 
the  City  and  County  of  New  York. — Whenever  any  relig- 
ious society  incorporated  by  law  shall  cease  to  act  in  its 
corporate  capacity  and  keep  up  the  religious  services,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  the  supreme  court  of  this  State,  upon 
the  application  of  a  majority  of  the  trustees  thereof  in- 
corporated by  law,  except  in  the  city  and  county  of 
New  York,  in  case  such  court  shall  deem  it  proper  so  to 
do,  to  order  and  decree  a  dissolution  of  such  religious  so- 
ciety, and  for  that  purpose  to  order  and  direct  a  sale 
and  conveyance  of  any  and  all  property  belonging  to  such 
society,  and  after  providing  for  the  ascertaining  and  pay- 
ment of  the  debts  of  such  society,  and  the  necessary  costs 
and  expenses  of  such  sale  and  proceedings  for  dissolution, 
so  far  as  the  proceeds  of  such  sale  shall  be  sufficient  to 
pay  the  same;  such  court  may  order  and  direct  any  sur- 
plus of  such  proceeds  remaining  after  paying  such  debts, 
costs,  and  expenses,  to  be  devoted  and  applied  to  any 
such  religious,  benevolent,  or  charitable  objects  or  pur- 
poses as  the  said  trustees  may  indicate  by  their  petition 
and  the  said  court  may  approve. 

Such  application  to  said  court  shall  be  made  by  peti- 
tion, duly  verified  by  said  trustees,  which  petition  shall 
state  the  particular  reason  or  causes  why  such  sale  and 
dissolution  are  sought;  the  situation,  condition,  and  esti- 
mated value  of  the  property  of  said  society  or  corporation, 
and  the  particular  object  or  purposes  to  which  it  is  pro- 
posed to  devote  any  surplus  of  the  proceeds  of  such  prop- 
erty; and  such  petition  shall,  in  all  cases,  be  accompanied 
with  proof  that  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  such  in- 
tended application  to  said  court  has  been  duly  published 
once  in  each  week  for  at  least  four  weeks  successively, 
next  preceding  such  application,  in  a  newspaper  pub- 
lished in  the  county  where  such  society  is  located. 

In  case  there  shall  be  no  trustees  of  such  religious  so- 
ciety residing  in  the  conntv  in  which  such  society  is  lo- 


14  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

cated,  such  application  may  be  made,  and  such  proceed- 
ings taken,  by  a  majority  of  the  members  of  such  religious 
society  residing  in  such  county. 

Application  of  this  chapter  to  churches  incorporated 
prior  to  January  first,  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight.  — Any  provision  of  this  chapter  (723,  Laws  1895) 
shall  not  be  deemed  to  apply  to  any  church  incorporated 
under  any  general  or  special  law,  prior  to  January  first, 
eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  if  such  provision  is 
inconsistent  with  or  in  derogation  of  any  of  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  such  corporation,  as  they  existed  under 
the  law  by  or  pursuant  to  which  such  corporation  was 
formed,  unless  such  corporation  subsequent  to  such  date, 
shall  have  lawfully  reincorporated  under  a  law  enacted 
since  the  first  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred  and 
twenty-eight,  or  unless  the  trustees  of  such  corporation 
shall,  by  resolution,  determine  that  the  provisions  of  this 
chapter  applying  to  churches  of  the  same  denomination 
and  to  the  trustees  thereof  shall  apply  to  such  church, 
and  unless  such  resolution  shall  be  submitted  to  the  next 
ensuing  annual  meeting  of  such  church,  and  be  ratified  by 
a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  qualified  voters  present  and 
voting  thereon.  Notice  of  the  adoption  of  such  reso- 
lution and  of  the  proposed  submission  thereof  for  rati- 
fication, shall  be  given  with  the  notice  of  such  annual 
meeting,  and,  in  addition  thereto,  mailed  to  each  mem- 
ber of  such  church  corporation  at  his  last  known  postof- 
fice  address,  at  least  two  weeks  prior  to  such  annual 
meeting,  and  published  once  a  week  for  two  successive 
weeks  immediately  preceding  such  meeting  in  a  news- 
paper, if  any,  published  in  the  city,  village,  or  town  in 
which  the  principal  place  of  worship  of  such  corporation 
is  located,  and  otherwise  in  a  newspaper  published  in  an 
adjoining  town.  If  such  resolution  is  so  ratified,  the  trus- 
tees of  such  church  shall  cause  a  certificate  setting  forth 
a  copy  of  such  resolution,  its  adoption  by  the  board  of 
trustees,  and  its  due  ratification  by  the  members  of  such 
corporation,  to  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the 
county  in  which  the  principal  place  of  worship  of  such 


Application  of  Statute.  15 

corporation  is  located.  Such  county  clerk  shall  cause 
such  certificate  to  be  recorded  in  the  book  in  which  cer- 
tificates of  incorporation  of  religious  corporations  are 
recorded  in  pursuance  of  law. — Chap.  336,  Laws  1896. 

Application  of  this  chapter  to  churches  created  by 
special  laws. — If  a  church  be  incorporated  by  special  law, 
it  and  its  trustees  shall  have,  in  addition  to  the  powers 
conferred  on  it  by  such  law,  all  the  powers  and  privileges 
conferred  on  incorporated  churches,  and  the  trustees 
thereof  respectively  by  the  provisions  of  this  article,  and 
also  all  the  powers  and  privileges  conferred  by  this  chap- 
ter on  churches  of  the  same  denomination,  or  of  the  like 
character,  and  on  the  trustees  thereof  respectively. — 
Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

Where  the  original  certificate  of  incorporation  of  a  reli- 
gious society  is  lost,  a  copy  of  the  record  thereof,  duly 
certified  by  the  clerk  of  the  county,  will  properly  be  ad- 
mitted in  evidence.  It  is  sufficient  that  the  official  char- 
acter of  the  officer  taking  the  acknowledgment  appears 
in  the  body  of  the  certificate.  An  acknowledgment  be- 
fore a  commissioner  of  deeds  has  the  same  force  and  val- 
idity as  if  taken  before  one  of  the  officers  named  in  the 
first  section  of  the  act  of  eighteen  hundred  and  thirteen 
providing  for  the  incorporation  of  religious  societies. 
Second  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Greenwich  vs. 
Humphrey,  49  St.  Rep.,  467. 


CHUKCH  TRUSTEES,  GENERAL  POWERS. 

General  powers  and  duties  of  trustees  of  religious 
corporations.  —  The  trustees  of  every  religious  corpora- 
tion shall  have  the  eustodj'  and  control  of  all  the  tem- 
poralities and  property,  real  or  personal,  belonging  to  the 
corporation,  and  of  the  revenues  therefrom,  and  shall  ad- 
minister the  same  in  accordance  with  the  discipline,  rules, 
and  usages  of  the  corporation  and  of  the  ecclesiastical 
governing  body,  if  any,  to  which  the  corporation  is  sub- 
ject, and  with  the  provisions  of  the  law  relating  thereto, 
for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  the  corporation;  or, 
providing  the  members  of  the  corporation  at  a  meeting 
thereof  shall  so  authorize,  of  some  religious,  charitable, 
benevolent,  or  educational  object  conducted  by  said  cor- 
poration or  in  connection  with  it,  or  with  the  denomina- 
tion, if  any,  with  w^hich  it  is  connected;  and  they  shall 
not  use  such  property  or  revenues  for  any  other  purpose 
or  divert  the  same  from  such  uses.  By-laws  may  be 
adopted  and  amended,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  quali- 
fied voters  present  and  voting  at  the  meeting  for  in- 
corporation, or  at  any  subsequent  meeting,  after  written 
notice,  embodying  such  by-laws  or  amendment,  has  been 
openly  given  at  a  previous  meeting,  and  also  in  the  notices 
of  the  meeting  at  which  such  proposed  by-law  or  amend- 
ment is  to  be  acted  upon.  By-laws  thus  adopted  or 
amended  shall  control  the  action  of  the  trustees.  But 
this  section  does  not  give  the  trustees  of  an  incorporated 
church  any  control  over  the  calling,  settlement,  dismissal, 
or  removal  of  its  minister,  or  the  fixing  of  his  salary;  or 
any  power  to  fix  or  change  the  times,  nature,  or  order  of 
the  public  or  social  worship  of  such  church. — Chap.  621, 
Laws  1897. 

Where  the  question  is  as  to  the  legal  rights  of  rival 
claimants  to  a  trusteeship  of  a  religious  corporation,  the 
claimants  who  have  been  in  recognized  possession  may  be 
sustained  by  a  writ  of  injunction  to  restrain  any  disorder- 
ly interference  by  the  other  claimants  until  the  legal  right 
may  be  settled  by  an  action,  brought  by  the  Attorney- 


Church  Trustees.  17 

General  in  the  name  of  the  people.  Keis  vs.  Rohde,  34 
Hun.,  161. 

When  a  right  of  property  is  dependent  upon  a  question 
of  doctrine,  diseii)line,  or  church  government,  a  civil  court 
where  the  question  may  arise  will  treat  the  determination 
made  upon  such  question  by  the  highest  tribunal  within 
the  church  organization  as  controlling  in  that  respect. 
Beyond  that  there  can  be  no  recognition  in  this  State  of 
the  jurisdiction  and  judicial  power  of  any  ecclesiastical 
court.  Questions  of  the  civil  rights  of  persons  relating  to 
themselves  personally  or  to  property,  whatever  may  be 
their  relations  to  church  organizations,  are  subjects  for 
adjudication  by  the  civil  tribunals  exclusively.  The  civil 
courts  do  not  interfere  with  ecclesiastical  matters  in 
which  temporal  rights  are  not  involved.  Baxter  v.  Mc- 
Donnell, 18  App.  Div.,  235,  1897. 

To  perfect  the  relation  of  pastor — that  is,  of  permanent 
pastor,  there  must  be  an  unqualified  offer  to  the  proposed 
incumbent,  and  an  unqualified  acceptance  of  the  offer. 

The  trustees  of  a  religious  corporation  may  be  enjoined, 
in  an  action  brought  by  a  trustee,  from  paying  the  pastor 
the  salary  of  a  permanent  pastor,  or  otherwise  treating 
him  as  such  when  he  is  only  acting  pastor;  from  interfer- 
ing with  the  rights  of  church  members  to  meet  in  the 
church  building  by  themselves,  and  from  interfering  with 
the  power  of  self-government  of  the  church  or  of  the  so- 
ciety ;  from  attempting  to  prescribe  new  qualifications  of 
voters  at  the  meetings  of  the  church  or  society,  and  from 
excluding  any  of  their  number  from  access  to  their  books 
and  records. 

An  acting  pastor,  who  is  neither  a  member  of  the  church 
nor  of  the  society,  may  be  enjoined  from  assuming  to  in- 
terfere as  an  officer  thereof,  contrary  to  its  customary 
usages.  Hopkins  i:s.  Seymour,  N.  Y.  Super.  Ct.,  Sp.  T., 
1884. 

A  pewholder,  as  between  liimself  and  the  legal  owners 
of  the  church  edifice,  has  only  the  right  to  occupy  his  pew 
during  divine  service.  This  right  is  subordinate  to  the 
right  of  the  corporation  to  remodel  the  building,  or  to  sell 


18  Civil  Church  Laic — New  York. 

it  and  remove  elsewhere.  Erwin  vs.  Hurd,  133  Abb.  N.  C, 
91. 

Upon  the  sale  of  a  church  and  the  erection  of  a  new 
one,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  trustees  to  tender  a  pewholder  a 
pew  in  the  new  edifice  corresponding  in  location  to  that 
which  he  owned  in  the  former  building,  upon  the  payment 
of  such  a  sum  as,  in  equity,  he  ought  to  pay,  if  the  cost  of 
the  new  structure  exceeds  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the 
old  property,  together  with  the  sums  in  the  treasury  of 
the  society,  and  if  they  fail  so  to  do,  he  should  be  indemni- 
fied for  his  loss.  Sup.  Ct.,  1893.  Mayer  vs.  Temple  Beth. 
El.    23  N.  Y.  Supp.,  1013. 

A  religious  corporation  is  not  liable  for  injuries  sus- 
tained by  reason  of  the  negligence  of  an  employee,  in  the 
absence  of  proof  that  the  employee  was  not  qualified  for 
the  work  he  was  engaged  to  perform,  or  that  there  was 
negligence  of  the  corporation's  ofiicers  in  his  selection. 
Haas  vs.  Missionary  Society  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer. 
2G  N.  Y.  Supp.,  868.' 


CHURCH  PROPERTY. 

Limitations  upon  property  and  income  of  religious  cor- 
porations; inheritance  tax  not  applicable. — Any  religious, 
educational,  Bible,  missionary,  tract,  literary,  scientific, 
benevolent,  or  charitable  corporation,  or  corporation  or- 
ganized for  the  enforcement  of  laws  relating  to  children 
or  animals,  or  for  hospital,  infirmary,  or  other  new  busi- 
ness purposes,  may  take  and  hold,  in  its  own  right,  or  in 
trust  for  any  other  purpose  comprised  in  the  objects  of  its 
incorporation,  property  not  exceeding  in  value  three  mil- 
lion dollars,  or  the  yearly  income  derived  from  which 
shall  not  exceed  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  any  special  or  general 
act  heretofore  passed  or  certificate  of  incorporation  affect- 
ing such  corporations.  In  computing  the  value  of  such 
property  no  increase  in  value  arising  otherwise  than  from 
improvements  made  thereon,  shall  be  taken  into  account. 
The  personal  estate  of  such  corporations  shall  be  exempt 
from  taxation,  and  the  provisions  of  chapter  four  hundred 
and  eighty-three  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-five,  entitled,  "  An  act  to  tax  gifts,  legacies,  and 
collateral  inheritances  in  certain  cases,"  and  the  acts 
amendatory  thereof,  shall  not  apply  thereto,  nor  to  any 
gifts  to  any  such  corporation  by  grant,  bequest,  or  other- 
wise; provided,  however,  that  this  provision  shall  not  ap- 
ply to  any  moneyed  or  stock  corporations  deriving  an  in- 
come or  profit  from  the  capital  or  otherwise,  or  to  any 
corporation  which  has  the  right  to  make  dividends  or  to 
distribute  profits  or  assets  among  its  members. 

This  act  shall  not  affect  the  right  of  any  such  corpora- 
tion to  take  and  hold  property  exceeding  in  value  the 
amount  specified  in  this  act,  provided  such  right  is  con- 
ferred upon  such  corporation  by  special  statute;  nor 
affect  any  statute  by  which  its  real  estate  is  exempt  from 
taxation.— Chap.  553,  Laws  1890. 

Property  of  unincorporated  society  transferred  by  its 
incorporation.  —  All  the  temporalities  and  property  of  an 
unincorporated  church,  or  of  any  unincorporated  religious 


20  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

society,  body,  association,  or  congregation,  shall  on  the 
incorporation  thereof,  become  the  temporalities  and  prop- 
erty of  such  corporation  whether  such  temporalities  or 
property  be  given,  granted,  or  devised  directly  to  such  un- 
incorporated church,  society,  body,  association,  or  con- 
gregation, or  to  any  other  person  for  the  use  or  benefit 
thereof.— Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

Correction  and  confirmation  of  conveyances  to  relig- 
ious corporations. — If,  in  a  conveyance  of  real  property, 
or  in  any  instrument  intended  to  operate  as  such,  here- 
tofore or  hereafter  made  to  a  religious  corporation,  its  cor- 
porate name  is  not  stated  or  is  not  correctly  stated,  but 
such  conveyance  or  instrument  indicates  the  intention 
of  the  grantor  therein  to  convey  such  property  to  such 
corporation,  and  such  corporation  has  entered  into  pos- 
session and  occupation  of  such  property,  any  officer  of  the 
corporation  authorized  so  to  do  by  its  trustees  may  record 
in  the  office  where  such  conveyance  or  instrument  is  re- 
corded a  statement,  signed  and  acknowledged  by  him  or 
proved,  setting  forth  the  date  of  such  conveyance  or  in- 
strument, the  date  of  record,  and  the  number  and  page  of 
the  book  of  record  thereof,  the  name  of  the  grantor,  a 
description  of  the  property  conveyed  or  intended  to  be 
conveyed,  the  name  of  the  grantee  as  expressed  in  such 
conveyance  or  instrument,  the  correct  name  of  such  cor- 
poration, the  fact  of  authorization,  by  the  trustees  of  the 
corporation,  to  make  and  record  such  statement,  and  that 
the  grantor  in  such  conveyance  or  instrument  intended 
thereby  to  convey  such  property  to  such  corporation  as 
the  said  officer  verily  believes,  with  the  reason  for  such 
belief.  Such  statement  so  signed  and  acknowledged  or 
proved  shall  be  recorded  with  the  records  of  deeds  in  such 
office,  and  indexed  as  a  deed  from  the  grantee  as  named 
in  such  instrument  or  in  such  conveyance  to  such  cor- 
poration. The  register,  or  clerk,  as  the  case  may  be  shall 
note  the  recording  of  such  statement  on  the  margin  of  the 
record  of  such  conveyance,  and  for  his  services  shall  be 
entitled  to  receive  the  fees  allowed  for  recording  deeds. 
Such  statements  so  recorded  shall  be  presumptive  evi- 


Judkial  Investigation.  21 

dence  that  such  matters  therein  stated  are  true,  and  that 
such  corporation  was  the  grantee  in  the  original  instru- 
ment or  conveyance.  All  conveyances  heretofore  made,  or 
by  any  instrument  intended  to  be  made,  to  a  religious  cor- 
poration of  real  property  appropriated  to  the  use  of  such 
corporation,  or  entitled  to  be  so  appropriated,  are  hereby 
confirmed  and  declared  valid  and  effectual,  notwithstand- 
ing any  defect  in  the  form  of  the  conveyance  or  the  de- 
scription of  the  grantee  therein,  but  this  section  shall 
not  affect  any  suit  or  proceeding  pending  on  the  thirty- 
first  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-one. 
—Chap.  336.  Laws  1896. 

Judicial  investigation  of  amount  of  property  of  re- 
ligious corporations. — The  supreme  court  at  a  special 
term,  held  in  the  judicial  district  in  which  the  principal 
place  of  worship  or  of  holding  corporate  meetings  of  a 
religious  corporation  is  situated,  may  require  such  cor- 
poration to  make  and  file  an  inventory  of  its  property, 
verified  by  its  trustees,  or  a  majority  of  them,  on  the 
written  application  of  the  attorney-general,  stating  that, 
from  his  knowledge,  or  on  information  and  belief,  the 
value  of  the  property  held  by  such  corporation  exceeds 
the  amount  authorized  by  law.  On  presentation  of  such 
application,  the  court  shall  order  that  a  notice  of  at  least 
eight  days,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  application,  be 
served  upon  the  trustees  of  the  corporation,  requiring 
them  to  show  cause  at  a  time  and  place  therein  specified 
why  they  should  not  make  and  file  such  inventory  and 
account.  If,  on  the  hearing  of  such  application,  no  good 
cause  is  shown  to  the  contrary,  the  court  may  make  an 
order  requiring  such  inventory  or  account  to  be  filed, 
and  may  also  proceed  to  take  and  state  the  amount  of 
property  held  by  the  corporation,  and  may  appoint  a 
referee  for  that  purpose;  and  w^hen  such  account  is  taken 
and  stated,  after  hearing  all  the  parties  appearing  on  the 
application,  the  court  may  enter  an  order  determining 
the  amount  of  property  so  held  by  the  corporation  and  its 
annual  income,  from  which  order  an  appeal  may  be  taken 
by  any  party  aggrieved  as  from  a  judgment  of  the  su- 


22  Civil  Church  Lair — Neic  YorA'. 

preme  court  in  an  action  tried  therein  before  a  court 
without  a  jury.  No  corporation  shall  be  required  to 
make  and  file  more  than  one  inventory  and  account  in  any 
one  year,  or  to  make  a  second  account  and  inventory 
while  proceedings  are  pending  for  the  statement  of  an 
account  under  this  section. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

Acquisition  of  property  by  religious  corporations  for 
branch  institutions;  establishment,  maintenance,  and  man- 
asrement  thereof. —  Any  religious  corporation  may  ac- 
quire property  for  associate  houses,  church  buildings, 
chapels,  mission-houses,  schoolhouses  for  Sunday  or 
parochial  schools,  or  dispensaries  of  medicine  for  the  poor, 
or  property  for  the  residence  of  its  ministers,  teachers,  or 
employees,  or  property  for  a  home  for  the  aged.  The  per- 
sons attending  public  worship  in  any  such  associate 
house,  mission-house,  church  building,  or  chapel  con- 
nected therewith  shall  not,  by  reason  thereof,  have  any 
rights  as  members  of  the  parent  corporation.  The  per- 
sons statedly  worshiping  in  such  house,  mission-house, 
church  building,  or  chapel,  may,  with  the  consent  of  the 
trustees  of  such  corporation,  become  separately  incor- 
porated as  a  church,  and  the  parent  corporation  may,  in 
pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  law^  regulating  the  disposi- 
tion of  real  property  by  religious  corporations,  rent  or 
convey  to  the  new"  corporation,  with  or  without  considera- 
tion, any  such  associate  house,  church  building,  chapel, 
mission-house,  schoolhouse,  or  dispensary,  and  the  lot 
connected  therewith,  subject  to  such  regulations  as  the 
trustees  of  the  parent  corporation  may  make  Any  re- 
ligious corporation  shall  have  power  to  establish,  main- 
tain, and  manage,  by  its  trustees,  or  other  officers  as  a 
part  of  its  religious  purpose,  a  home  for  the  aged,  and  may 
take  and  hold  by  conveyance,  donation,  bequest,  or  devise, 
real  and  personal  property  for  such  purpose,  and  may 
purchase  and  may  erect  suitable  buildings  therefor.  Any 
such  corporation  may  take  and  hold  in  grant,  donation, 
bequest,  or  devise  of  real  or  personal  property  hereto- 
fore or  hereafter  made  upon  trust,  apply  the  same,  or  the 
income  thereof,  under  the  direction  of  its  trustees  or  other 


Common  Parsonage,  Cemeteries.  23 

officers,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing,  maintaining,  and 
managing  such  a  home,  and  for  the  erection,  preserva- 
tion, repair,  or  extension  of  any  building  or  buildings  for 
such  purpose. — Chap.  525,  Laws  1896. 

Acquisition  of  property  by  two  or  more  religious  cor^ 
porations  for  a  common  parsonage. — Two  or  more  re- 
ligious corporations  may  acquire  such  real  property  as 
may  be  necessary  for  use  as  a  parsonage,  and  the  right, 
title,  and  interest  of  each  corporation  therein  shall  be  in 
proportion  to  its  contribution  to  the  cost  of  such  property. 
The  trustees  of  each  corporation  shall,  from  time  to  time, 
appoint  one  of  their  number  to  be  a  trustee  of  such  com- 
mon parsonage  property,  to  hold  office  during  the  pleasure 
of  the  appointing  trustees,  or  until  his  successor  be  ap- 
pointed. The  trustees  so  appointed  shall  have  the  care 
and  management  of  such  property  and  may  make  such  im- 
provements thereupon  as  they  deem  necessary,  and  de- 
termine the  proportion  of  the  expense  of  the  maintenance 
thereof  which  each  corporation  shall  bear.  If  at  any  time 
either  of  such  corporations  acquires  or  desires  to  ac- 
quire for  its  own  exclusive  use  as  a  parsonage  other  real 
property,  it  may,  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  law 
relating  to  the  disposition  of  real  property  by  religious 
corporations,  sell  and  convey  its  interest  in  such  common 
parsonage  property  to  any  one  or  more  of  the  other  cor- 
porations having  an  interest  therein. — Chap.  723,  Laws 
1895. 

Acquisition  of  property  by  religious  corporations  for 
cemetery  purposes ;  management  thereof. — A  religious 
corporation  may  take  and  hold,  by  purchase,  grant,  gift, 
or  devise,  real  property  for  the  purposes  of  a  cemetery; 
or  such  lot  or  lots  in  any  cemetery  connected  with  it,  as 
may  be  conveyed  or  devised  to  it,  with  or  without  provi- 
sions limiting  interments  therein  to  particular  persons  or 
classes  of  persons;  and  may  take  and  hold  any  property 
granted,  given,  devised,  or  bequeathed  to  it  in  trust  to 
apply  the  same,  or  the  income  or  proceeds  thereof,  under 
the  direction  of  the  trustees  of  the  corporation,  for  the 
improvement  or  embellishment  of  such  cemetery  or  any 


24  Civil  Church  Law — New  Yoi'k. 

lot  therein,  including  the  erection,  repair,  preservation,  or 
removal  of  tombs,  monuments,  gravestones,  fences,  rail- 
ings, or  other  erections,  or  the  planting  or  cultivation  of 
trees,  shrubs,  plants,  or  flowers  in  and  around  any  such 
cemetery  or  cemetery  lots. 

A  religious  corporation  may  erect  upon  any  property 
held  by  it  for  cemetery  purposes,  a  suitable  building  for 
religious  services  for  the  burial  of  the  dead,  or  for  the 
use  of  the  keepers  or  other  persons  employed  in  connec- 
tion therewith,  and  may  sell  or  convey  lots  in  such  ceme- 
tery for  burial  purposes,  subject  to  such  conditions  and 
restrictions  as  may  be  imposed  by  the  instrument  by 
which  the  same  was  acquired,  or  by  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions adopted  by  such  corporation.  Every  such  convey- 
ance of  a  lot  or  plat  for  burial  purposes,  signed,  sealed, 
and  acknowledged  in  the  same  manner  as  a  deed  to  be 
recorded,  may  be  recorded  in  like  manner  and  with  like  ef- 
fect as  a  deed  of  real  property. — Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 

Sale,  mortgage,  and  lease  of  real  property  of  religious 
corporations.  —  A  religious  corporation  shall  not  sell  or 
mortgage  any  of  its  real  property  without  applying  to  and 
obtaining  leave  of  the  court  therefor. 

The  trustees  of  an  incorporated  Protestant  Episcopal 
church  shall  not  vote  upon  any  resolution  or  proposition 
for  the  sale,  mortgage,  or  lease  of  its  real  property,  un- 
less the  rector  of  such  church,  if  it  then  has  a  rector,  shall 
be  present. 

The  trustees  of  an  incorporated  Roman  Catholic  church 
shall  not  make  application  to  the  court  for  leave  to  mort- 
gage, lease,  or  sell  any  of  its  real  property  without  the 
consent  of  the  Archbishop  or  Bishop  of  the  diocese  to 
which  such  church  belongs,  or  in  case  of  their  absence  or 
inability  to  act,  without  the  consent  of  the  Vicar-General 
or  administrator  of  such  diocese. 

The  petition  of  the  trustees  of  an  incorporated  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  church,  or  a  Roman  Catholic  church  shall, 
in  addition  to  the  matters  required  by  the  Civil  Code  to 
be  set  forth  therein,  set  forth  that  this  section  has  also 
been  complied  with. 


Property  of  Extinct  Churehes.  25 

But  lots,  plats,  or  burial  permits  in  a  cemetery  owned 
by  a  religious  corporation  may  be  sold  without  applying 
for  or  obtaining  leave  of  the  court. 

No  cemetery  lands  of  a  religious  corporation  shall  be 
mortgaged  while  used  for  cemetery  purposes. — Chap.  723, 
Laws  1895. 

Property  of  extinct  churches. — An  incorporated  gov- 
erning body  may  decide  that  a  church,  parish,  or  society 
in  connection  with  it,  or  over  which  it  has  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction,  has  become  extinct,  if  it  has  failed  for  two 
consecutive  years  prior  thereto,  to  maintain  religious  ser- 
vices according  to  the  discipline,  customs,  and  usages  of 
such  governing  body,  or  has  had  less  than  thirteen  resi- 
dent attending  members  paying  annual  pew  rent,  or  mak- 
ing annual  contribution  toward  its  support,  and  may  take 
possession  of  the  temporalities  and  property  belonging  to 
such  church,  parish,  or  religious  society,  and  manage; 
or  may,  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  law  relating  to 
the  disposition  of  real  property  by  religious  corporations, 
sell  or  dispose  of  the  same  and  apply  the  proceeds  thereof 
to  any  of  the  purposes  to  which  the  property  of  such  gov- 
erning body  is  devoted,  and  it  shall  not  divert  such  prop- 
erty to  any  other  object.  The  New  York  Eastern  Chris- 
tian Benevolent  and  Missionary  Society  shall  be  deemed 
the  governing  religious  body  of  any  extinct  or  disbanded 
church  of  the  Christian  denomination  situated  within 
the  bounds  of  the  New  York  Eastern  Christian  confer- 
ence; and  the  New  York  Christian  Association,  of  any 
other  church  of  the  Christian  denomination,  and  any 
other  incorporated  conference  shall  be  deemed  the  gov- 
erning religious  body  of  any  church  situated  within  its 
bounds.  By  Christian  denomination  is  meant  only  the 
denomination  especially  termed  "  Christian,"  in  which  the 
Bible  is  declared  to  be  the  only  rule  of  faith.  Christian 
their  only  name,  and  Christian  character  their  only  test 
of  fellowship,  and  in  which  no  form  of  baptism  is  made 
a  test  of  Christian  character. — Chap.  238,  Laws  1897. 

riortmain  restrictions. — No  person  having  a  husband, 
wife,  child,  or  parent,  shall,  by  his  or  her  last  will  and 
a  test  of  Christian  character. 


26  Civil  Church  Laic — New  York. 

testament,  devise  or  bequeath  to  any  benevolent,  charit- 
able, literary,  scientific,  or  religious,  or  missionary  so- 
ciety, association,  or  corporation  in  trust  or  otherwise, 
more  than  one-half  part  of  his  or  her  estate,  after  the  pay- 
ment of  his  or  her  debts  (and  such  devise  or  bequest  shall 
be  valid  to  the  extent  of  one-half  and  no  more). — Chap. 
360,  Laws  1860. 

Place»  in  which  traffic  in  liquor  shall  not  be  permitted. 
— *  *  *  in  any  building,  yard,  booth,  or  other 
place  which  shall  be  on  the  same  street  or  avenue  and 
within  two  hundred  feet  of  a  building  occupied  exclu- 
sively as  a  church  or  school-house;  the  measurements  to 
be  taken  from  the  center  of  the  nearest  entrance  of  the 
building  used  for  such  church  or  school-house  to  the  cen- 
ter of  the  nearest  entrance  of  the  place  in  which  such 
liquor  traffic  is  desired  to  be  carried  on;  provided,  how- 
ever, that  this  prohibition  shall  not  apply  to  a  place 
which  is  occupied  for  a  hotel,  nor  to  a  place  in  which  such 
traffic  in  liquors  is  actually  lawfully  carried  on  when  this 
act  takes  effect,  nor  to  a  place  which  at  such  date  is  oc- 
cupied, or  in  process  of  construction,  by  a  corporation  or 
association  which  traffics  in  liquors  solely  with  the  mem- 
bers thereof,  nor  to  a  place  within  such  limit  to  which  a 
corporation  or  association  trafficing  in  liquors  solely 
with  the  members  thereof  when  this  act  takes  effect  may 
remove;  provided,  how^ever,  such  place  to  which  such  cor- 
poration or  association  may  so  remove,  shall  be  located 
within  two  hundred  feet  of  the  place  in  which  such  cor- 
poration or  association  so  traffics  in  liquors  when  this  act 
takes  effect.— Chap.  112,  Laws  1896. 

Exemption  from  taxation.  —  The  following  property 
shall  be  exempt  from  taxation : 

All  property  exempt  by  law  from  execution,  other  than 
an  exempt  homestead. 

The  real  property  of  a  corporation  or  association  or- 
ganized exclusively  for  the  moral  or  mental  improve- 
ment of  men  or  women,  or  for  religious,  Bible,  tract,  char- 
itable, benevolent,  missionary,  hospital,  infirmary,  educa- 
tional, scientific,  literary,  library,  patriotic,  historical,  or 


Exemption  from  Taxation.  37 

cemetery  purposes,  or  for  the  enforcement  of  laws  relat- 
ing to  children  or  animals,  or  for  two  or  more  of  such  pur- 
poses, and  used  exclusively  for  carrying  out  thereupon 
one  or  more  of  such  purposes,  and  the  personal  property 
of  any  such  corporation  or  association  shall  be  exempt 
from  taxation. 

But  no  such  corporation  or  association  shall  be  entitled 
to  any  such  exemption  if  any  officer,  member,  or  employee 
thereof  shall  receive  or  may  be  lawfully  entitled  to  re- 
ceive any  pecuniary  profit  from  the  operations  thereof, 
excepting  reasonable  compensation  for  services  in  effect- 
ing one  or  more  of  such  purposes,  or  as  property  benefi- 
ciaries of  its  strictly  charitable  purposes;  or  if  the  organi- 
zation thereof,  for  any  of  such  avowed  purposes,  be  a 
guise  or  pretense  for  directly  or  indirectly  making  any 
other  pecuniary  profit  for  such  corporation  or  association, 
or  for  any  of  its  members  or  employees,  or  if  it  be  not  in 
good  faith  organized  or  conducted  exclusively  for  one  or 
more  of  such  purposes.  The  real  property  of  any  such 
corporation  or  association  entitled  to  such  exemption 
held  by  it  exclusively  for  one  or  more  of  such  purposes, 
and  from  which  no  rents,  profits  or  incomes  are  derived, 
shall  be  so  exempt,  though  not  in  actual  use  therefor, 
by  reason  of  the  absence  of  suitable  buildings  or  improve- 
ments thereon,  if  the  construction  of  such  buildings  or 
improvements  is  in  progress,  or  is  in  good  faith  contem- 
plated by  such  corporation  or  association.  The  real  prop- 
erty of  any  such  corporation  not  so  used  exclusively  for 
carrying  out  thereupon  one  or  more  of  such  purposes,  but 
leased  or  otherwise  used  for  other  purposes,  shall  not  be 
so  exempt;  but  if  a  portion  only  of  any  lot  or  building  of 
any  such  corporation  or  association  is  used  exclusively 
for  carrying  out  thereupon  one  or  more  of  such  pur- 
poses of  any  such  corporation  or  association,  then  such 
lot  or  building  shall  be  so  exempt  only  to  the  extent  of  the 
value  of  the  portion  so  used,  and  the  remaining  portion 
of  such  lot  or  building  to  the  extent  of  the  value  of  such 
remaining  portion  shall  be  subject  to  taxation.  Prop- 
erty held  by  an  officer  of  a  religious  denomination  shall  be 


28  Civil  Church  Law — 'New  York. 

entitled  to  the  same  exemptions,  subject  to  the  same  con- 
ditions and  exceptions  as  property  held  by  a  religious 
corporation. 

All  dwelling  houses  and  lots  of  religious  corporations 
while  actually  used  by  the  officiating  clergymen  thereof, 
but  the  total  amount  of  such  exemption  to  any  one  re- 
ligious corporation  shall  not  exceed  two  thousand  dollars. 
Such  exemption  shall  be  in  addition  to  that  provided 
by  subdivision  seven  of  this  section. 

The  real  property  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  or  priest 
who  is  regularly  engaged  in  performing  his  duties  as  such, 
or  permanently  disabled,  by  impaired  health  from  the 
performance  of  such  duties,  or  over  seventy-five  years  of 
age,  and  the  personal  property  of  such  minister  or  priest, 
but  the  total  amount  of  such  exemption  on  account  of 
both  real  and  personal  property  shall  not  exceed  fifteen 
hundred  dollars. — Chap.  908,  Laws  1896. 

Lands  set  apart  for  the  erection  of  a  church  are  not  ex- 
empt from  taxation  until  the  building  is  actually  com- 
menced. "  The  law,"  says  Judge  Roosevelt  in  Trinity 
Church  ys.  Mayor,  10  How.  Pr.,  138,  "  to  warrant  this  claim 
of  privilege,  requires  an  actual  building — a  house  made 
with  hands — not  eternal  in  the  heavens,  but  temporal, 
situated  on  temporal  lots,  resting  not  on  intention,  how- 
ever pious  and  praiseworthy,  but  on  solid,  sublunary 
earth." 


BAPTIST  CHURCHES. 

Notice  of  meeting  for  incorporation. — Notice  of  a  meet- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  an  unincorporated 
Baptist  ehurcli  shall  be  given  as  follows:  The  notice  shall 
be  in  writing,  and  shall  state,  in  substance,  that  a  meet- 
ing of  such  unincorporated  church  will  be  held  at  its 
usual  place  of  worship  at  a  specified  day  and  hour,  for  the 
purpose  of  incorporating  such  church,  electing  trustees 
thereof,  and  selecting  a  corporate  name  therefor.  The  no- 
tice must  be  signed  by  at  least  six  persons  of  full  age,  who 
are  then  members  in  good  and  regular  standing  of  such 
church  by  admission  into  full  communion  or  membership 
therewith.  A  copy  of  such  notice  shall  be  publicly  read  at 
a  regular  meeting  of  such  unincorporated  church  for 
public  w^ol'ship,  on  the  tw^o  successive  Sundays  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  meeting,  by  the  minister  of  such 
church,  or  a  deacon  thereof  or  by  any  person  qualified  to 
sign  such  notice. 

Tiie  meeting  for  incorporation. — At  the  meeting  for  in- 
corporation, held  in  pursuance  of  such  notice,  the  quali- 
fied voters,  until  otherwise  decided  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided, shall  be  all  persons  of  full  age,  who  are  then  mem- 
bers, in  good  and  regular  standing  of  such  church,  by  ad- 
mission into  full  communion  or  membership  therewith. 
At  such  meeting  the  presence  of  a  majority  of  such  quali- 
fied voters,  at  least  six  in  number,  shall  be  necessary  to 
constitute  a  quorum,  and  all  matters  or  questions  shall  be 
decided  by  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  voting  there- 
on. There  shall  be  elected  at  said  meeting  from  the  quali- 
fied voters  then  present,  a  presiding  officer,  a  clerk  to  keep 
the  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  and  two  in- 
spectors of  election  to  receive  the  ballots  cast.  The  pre- 
siding officer  and  the  inspectors  shall  declare  the  result  of 
the  ballots  cast  on  any  matter,  and  shall  be  the  judges  of 
the  qualifications  of  voters.  If  the  meeting  shall  decide 
that  such  unincorporated  church  shall  become  incorpora- 
ted, the  meeting  shall  also  decide  upon  the  name  of  the 
proposed  corporation,  the  number  of  the  trustees  thereof, 


30  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

which  shall  be  three,  six,  or  nine,  and  the  date,  not  more 
than  fifteen  months  thereafter,  on  which  the  first  annual 
election  of  the  trustees  thereof  shall  be  held,  and  shall  de- 
cide also  whether  those  who,  from  the  time  of  the  forma- 
tion of  such  church  or  during  the  year  preceding  the  meet- 
ing for  incorporation,  have  statedly  worshiped  with  such 
church  and  have  regularly  contributed  to  the  financial 
support  thereof,  shall  be  qualified  voters  at  such  meeting 
for  incorporation,  and  whether  those  who,  during  the  year 
preceding  the  subsequent  corporate  meetings  of  the 
church  shall  have  statedly  worshiped  with  such  church 
and  shall  have  regularly  contributed  to  the  financial  sup- 
port thereof,  shall  be  qualified  voters  at  such  corporate 
meetings.  Such  meeting  shall  thereupon  elect  by  ballot 
from  the  persons  qualified  to  vote  thereat  one-third  of  the 
number  of  trustees  so  decided  on,  who  shall  hold  oflflce  un- 
til the  first  annual  election  of  trustees  thereafter,  and  one- 
third  of  such  number  of  trustees  who  shall  hold  office  un- 
til the  second  annual  election  of  trustees  thereafter,  and 
one-third  of  such  number  of  trustees  who  shall  hold  office 
until  the  third  annual  election  of  trustees  thereafter,  or 
until  the  respective  successors  of  such  trustees  shall  be 
elected. 

The  certificate  of  incorporation. — If  the  meeting  shall 
decide  that  such  unincorporated  church  shall  become  in- 
corporated, the  presiding  officer  of  such  meeting  and  the 
two  inspectors  of  elections  shall  execute  a  certificate  set- 
ting forth  the  name  of  the  proposed  corporation,  the  num- 
ber of  the  trustees  thereof,  the  names  of  the  persons 
elected  as  trustees,  and  the  terms  of  office  for  which  they 
were  respectively  elected,  and  the  county  and  town,  city, 
or  village  in  which  its  principal  place  of  worship  is  or  is 
intended  to  be  located.  On  the  filing  and  recording  of 
such  certificate  after  it  shall  have  been  acknowledged  or 
proved  as  hereinbefore  provided,  the  persons  qualified  to 
vote  at  such  meeting  and  those  persons  who  shall  there- 
after, from  time  to  time,  be  qualified  voters  at  the  corpo- 
rate meetings  thereof,  shall  be  a  corporation  by  the  name 
stated  in  such  certificate,  and  the  persons  therein  stated 


Baptist  Churches.  31 

to  be  elected  trustees  of  such  church  shall  be  the  trustees 
thereof,  for  the  terms  for  which  they  were  respectively 
elected  and  until  their  respective  successors  shall  be 
elected. 

Time,  place,  and  notice  of  corporate  meetings. — The  an- 
nual corporate  meeting  of  every  incorporated  Baptist 
church  shall  be  held  at  the  time  and  place  fixed  by  or  in 
pursuance  of  law  therefor,  if  such  time  and  place  be  so 
fixed,  and  otherwise,  at  a  time  and  place  to  be  fixed  by  its 
trustees.  A  special  corporate  meeting  of  any  such  church 
may  be  called  by  the  board  of  trustees  thereof,  on  its  own 
motion,  and  shall  be  called  on  the  written  request  of  at 
least  ten  qualified  voters  of  such  church.  The  trustees 
shall  cause  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  its  annual  cor- 
porate meeting,  and  of  the  names  of  any  trustees  whose 
successors  are  to  be  elected  thereat;  and,  if  a  special  meet- 
ing, of  the  business  to  be  transacted  thereat,  to  be  public- 
ly read  by  the  minister  of  such  church  or  any  trustee 
thereof  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  church  for  public 
worship,  on  the  two  successive  Sundays  immediately  pre- 
ceding such  meeting. 

Organization  and  conduct  of  corporate  meetings ;  quali- 
fications of  voters  thereat. — At  a  corporate  meeting  of  an 
incorporated  Baptist  church  the  qualified  voters  shall  be 
all  persons  of  full  age,  who  are  then  members  of  such 
church  in  good  and  regular  standing  by  admission  into 
full  communion  or  membership  therewith,  or  who  have 
statedly  worshiped  with  such  church  and  have  regularly 
contributed  to  the  financial  support  thereof  during  the 
year  next  preceding  such  meeting;  but  any  incorporated 
Baptist  church  may  at  any  annual  corporate  meeting 
thereof,  if  notice  of  the  intention  so  to  do  has  been  given 
with  the  notice  of  such  meeting,  decide  that  thereafter 
only  members  of  such  church  of  full  age  and  in  good  and 
regular  standing  by  admission  into  full  communion  or 
membership  therewith  shall  be  qualified  voters  at  the  cor- 
porate meetings.  At  such  corporate  meetings  the  pres- 
ence of  at  least  six  persons  qualified  to  vote  thereat  shall 
be  necessary  to  constitute  a  quorum,  and  all  matters  or 


32  Civil  Church  Law — Neiv  York. 

questions  shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  voting  thereon.  There  shall  be  elected  at  said 
meeting  from  the  qualified  voters  then  present,  a  presid- 
ing officer,  a  clerk  to  keep  the  records  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  meeting,  and  two  inspectors  of  election  to  receive 
the  ballots  cast.  The  presiding  officer  and  the  inspectors 
of  election  shall  declare  the  result  of  the  ballots  cast  on 
any  matter  and  shall  be  the  judges  of  the  qualifications  of 
voters.  At  each  annual  corporate  meeting,  successors  to 
those  trustees  whose  terms  of  office  then  expire,  shall  be 
elected  by  ballot  from  the  qualified  voters,  for  a  term  of 
three  years  thereafter,  and  until  their  successors  shall  be 
elected. 

Changing  date  of  annual  corporate  meetings. — An  an- 
nual corporate  meeting  of  an  incorporated  Baptist  church 
may  change  the  date  of  its  annual  meeting  thereafter.  If 
the  date  fixed  for  the  annual  meeting  shall  be  less  than 
six  months  after  the  annual  meeting  at  which  such  change 
is  made,  the  next  annual  meeting  shall  be  held  one  year 
from  the  date  so  fixed.  For  the  purpose  of  determining 
the  terms  of  office  of  trustees,  the  time  between  the  an- 
nual meeting  at  which  such  change  is  made  and  the  next 
annual  meeting  thereafter  shall  be  reckoned  as  one  year. 

Changing  number  of  trustees. — An  incorporated  Bap- 
tist church  may,  at  an  annual  corporate  meeting,  change 
the  number  of  its  trustees  to  three,  six,  or  nine,  or  classify 
them  so  that  the  terms  of  one-third  expire  each  year,  pro- 
vided that  notice  of  such  intended  change  or  classification 
be  included  in  the  notice  of  such  annual  corporate  meet- 
ing. No  such  change  shall  affect  the  terms  of  the  trustees 
then  in  office,  and  if  the  change  reduces  the  number  of 
trustees,  elections  shall  not  be  held  to  fill  vacancies 
caused  by  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  trustees  until  the 
number  of  trustees  equals  the  number  to  which  the  trus- 
tees were  reduced.  Whenever  the  number  of  trustees  in 
office  is  less  than  the  number  so  determined  on,  sufficient 
additional  trustees  shall  be  elected  to  make  the  number 
of  trustees  equal  to  the  number  so  determined  on.  The 
trustees  so  elected  up  to  and  including  one-third  of  the 


Baptist  Churches.  33 

number  so  determined  on,  shall  be  elected  for  three  years, 
the  remainder  up  to  and  including  one-third  of  the  num- 
ber so  determined  on  for  two  years,  and  the  remainder  for 
one  year. 

rieetings  of  trustees. — Meetings  of  the  trustees  of  an  in- 
corporated Baptist  church  shall  be  called  by  giving  at 
least  twenty-four  hours'  notice  thereof  personally  or  by 
mail  to  all  the  trustees,  and  such  notice  may  be  given  by 
two  of  the  trustees,  but  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
trustees  a  meeting  may  be  held  without  previous  notice 
thereof.  A  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  trustees 
shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business 
at  any  meeting  lawfully  convened. 

The  creation  and  filling:  of  vacancies  among  trustees  of 
such  churches. — If  any  trustee  of  an  incorporated  Baptist 
church  declines  to  act,  resigns,  or  dies,  or  having  been  a 
member  of  such  church  ceases  to  be  such  member,  or  not 
having  been  a  member  of  such  church,  ceases  to  be  a  qual- 
ified voter  at  a  corporate  meeting  thereof,  his  office  shall 
be  vacant,  and  such  vacancy  may  be  filled  by  the  remain- 
ing trustees  until  the  next  annual  corporate  meeting  of 
such  church,  at  which  meeting  the  vacancy  shall  be  filled 
for  the  unexpired  term. 

Property  of  extinct  Baptist  Churches. — All  the  prop- 
erty, both  real  and  personal,  belonging  to  or  held  in 
trust  for  any  Baptist  church  or  Baptist  religious  society 
organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  that 
has  become  or  shall  become  extinct,  shall  vest  in  and  be- 
come the  proj)erty  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  its  successors  or  assigns; 
provided,  that  this  act  shall  not  affect  the  reversionary 
interests  of  any  person  or  persons  in  such  property,  nor 
the  interests  of  any  incorporated  association;  and  any 
Baptist  church  or  Baptist  religious  society  becoming  ex- 
tinct or  about  to  disband  or  disorganize  may,  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  its  members  present  and  voting  therefor  at  a 
meeting  regularly  called  for  that  purpose,  assign,  trans- 
fer, grant  and  convey  all  its  temporalities  to  and  place 
the  same  in  the  possession  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Con- 
vention of  the  State  of  New  York. 


34  Ciml  Church  Law — New  York. 

Any  Baptist  church  or  Baptist  religious  society  which 
has  failed  for  two  consecutive  years  next  prior  thereto  to 
maintain  religious  services  according  to  the  custom  and 
usages  of  Baptist  churches,  or  has  less  than  thirteen  resi- 
dent attending  members,  paying  annual  pew  rental  or 
making  annual  contributions  toward  its  supj)ort,  may  be 
declared  extinct  in  the  following  manner,  viz.:  Upon 
such  notice  as  the  court  may  prescribe,  and  upon  applica- 
tion made  by  petition,  stating  fully  the  facts  in  the  case, 
and  on  evidence  being  furnished  that  the  said  Baptist 
church  or  Baptist  religious  society  has  ceased  to  hold  ser- 
vices in  and  use  said  property  for  religious  worship  or 
services  for  a  term  of  two  years  previous  to  such  applica- 
tion, the  supreme  court,  at  a  term  thereof  held  in  the  ju- 
dicial district  where  such  property  is  situated,  may  grant 
an  order,  declaring  such  church  or  society  extinct,  and 
thereon  direct  that  all  its  temporalities  shall  be  trans- 
ferred to,  and  thereupon  shall  be  taken  possession  of  by 
the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  or  directing  that  the  same  be  sold  in  the  manner  di- 
rected by  said  order,  and  that  the  proceeds  thereof,  after 
payment  of  the  debts  of  such  church  or  society,  be  paid 
over  to  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  All  property  and  proceeds  from  the  sale  of 
property  so  transferred  to  said  convention  shall  be  used 
and  applied  for  the  purposes  for  which  said  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Convention  of  the  State  of  New  York  was  organ- 
ized, and  shall  not  be  directed  to  any  other  purpose. — 
Chap.  642,  Laws  1894. 

Baptist  Missionary  Convention. — AH  such  persons  as 
now  are  or  hereafter  may  become  members  of  the  "Bap- 
tist Missionary  Convention  of  the  State  of  New  York  " 
shall  be  and  hereby  are  constituted  a  body  corporate  by 
the  name  of  the  "  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  of  the 
State  of  New  York  "  for  the  purpose  of  propagating  and 
spreading  the  Gospel,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing,  as- 
sisting, or  maintaining  in  the  State  of  New  York,  Baptist 
churches  or  missions  or  Sunday-schools  for  the  study  of 
the  Scriptures,  for  the  acquisition  of  sites  in  contempla- 


Baptist  Churches.  35 

tion  of  the  erection  of  houses  of  worship  and  other  build- 
ings, and  to  encourage  and  assist  the  educational  inter- 
ests of  the  Baptist  denomination  within  the  State. 

It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  members  of  said  corporation 
at  any  time  they  may  elect  to  appoint  such  officers  and 
such  managers  or  directors,  and  to  make  and  ordain  such 
by-laws  and  regulations  in  regard  to  their  organization 
and  to  the  management,  disposition,  and  sale  of  their 
real  or  personal  estate,  the  duties  and  powers  of  their 
officers,  managers,  or  directors,  and  the  management  of 
their  corporate  affairs,  as  they  from  time  to  time  shall 
think  proper,  provided  they  are  not  inconsistent  with  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  this  State  and  of  the  United 
States. 

The  said  corporation  shall  have  power  to  receive,  take, 
hold,  and  enjoy  any  property,  real  or  personal,  by  virtue 
of  any  devise,  bequest,  gift,  grant,  or  purchase,  either  ab- 
solutely or  in  trust,  and  to  make  investments  thereof,  or 
of  any  of  its  funds,  whenever  and  in  such  manner  as  it 
may  deem  advisable,  and  therewith  to  acquire  or  erect 
for  its  own  use  or  accommodation,  or  for  other  purposes, 
such  building  or  buildings  as  it  may  regard  advantageous 
to  the  interests  of  the  corporation  or  of  the  Baptist  de- 
nomination with  which  it  is  connected,  and  to  make  sales, 
conveyances  or  mortgages  of  any  of  its  real  estate  when- 
ever and  in  such  manner  as  it  may  deem  advisable;  sub- 
ject only,  however,  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  property 
it  may  take  and  hold  to  the  restrictions  and  limitations 
of  existing  laws,  and  in  respect  to  devises  or  bequests 
from  residents  of  the  State  of  New  York,  to  the  provisions 
of  Chap.  360,  Laws  of  1860,  entitled  "  An  Act  in  relation 
to  Wills." 

All  the  property,  real  and  personal,  heretofore  in  any 
manner  acquired  by  the  said  "  Baptist  Missionary  Con- 
vention of  the  State  of  New  York,"  shall  be  deemed  vested 
in  the  said  corporation. 

This  act  is  hereby  declared  to  be  a  public  act,  and  the 
same  shall  be  construed  in  all  courts  and  places  favorably 
for  every  purpose  therein  expressed  or  intended. 


36  Civil  Church  Law — Neiv  YorJc. 

This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately.  Chap.  143, 
Laws  1898. 

Free  Baptist  Churches. — All  the  property,  both  real 
and  personal,  belonging  to  or  held  in  trust  for  any  Free 
Baptist  Church,  or  Free  Baptist  religious  society  organ- 
ized under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  that  has 
become  or  shall  become  extinct,  shall  vest  in  and  become 
the  property  of  the  Central  Association  existing  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  its  successors  and 
assigns;  provided  that  this  act  shall  not  affect  the  rever- 
sionary interests  of  any  person  or  persons  in  such  prop- 
erty, nor  the  interests  of  any  incorporated  association; 
and  any  Free  Baptist  Church  or  Free  Baptist  religious 
society  becoming  extinct  or  about  to  disband  or  disor- 
ganize may,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  its  members  pres- 
ent and  voting  therefor  at  a  meeting  regularly  called  for 
that  purpose,  assign,  transfer,  grant,  and  convey  all  its 
temporalities  to,  and  place  the  same  in  the  possession  of 
the  Central  Association  existing  under  the  laws  of  the 
State  of  New  York. 

Any  Free  Baptist  Church  or  Free  Baptist  religious  so- 
ciety which  has  failed  for  two  consecutive  years  next  prior 
thereto  to  maintain  religious  services  according  to  the 
custom  and  usages  of  Free  Baptist  churches,  or  has  less 
than  thirteen  resident  attending  members,  paying  annual 
pew  rental  or  making  annual  contributions  toward  its 
support,  may  be  declared  extinct  in  the  following  man- 
ner, viz.:  Upon  such  notice  as  the  court  may  prescribe, 
and  upon  application  by  petition,  stating  fully  the  facts  in 
the  case,  and  on  evidence  being  furnished  that  the  said 
Free  Ba|2thjt  Church  or  Free  Baptist  religious  society  has 
ceased  t^>  ^'told  religious  services  in  and  use  said  property 
for  religious  worship  or  service  for  a  term  of  two  years 
previous  to  such  application,  the  Supreme  Court,  at  a 
term  thereof  held  in  the  judicial  district  where  such  prop- 
erty is  situated,  may  grant  an  order  declaring  such 
church  or  society  extinct,  and  thereon  direct  that  all  its 
temporalities  shall  be  transferred  to  and  thereupon  shall 
be  taken  possession  of  by  the  Central  Association  of  the 


Baptist  Churches.  37 

State  of  New  York,  or  directing  that  the  same  be  sold  in 
the  manner  directed  by  said  order,  and  that  the  proceeds 
thereof,  after  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  such  church  or 
society,  be  paid  over  to  the  Central  Association  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  All  property  and  proceeds  from  the 
sale  of  property  so  transferred  to  said  association  shall 
be  used  and  applied  for  the  purposes  for  which  said  Cen- 
tral Association  of  the  State  of  New  York  was  organized, 
and  shall  not  be  diverted  to  any  other  purpose. 

The  First  Free  Will  Baptist  Church  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  located  in  the  borough  of  Manhattan,  shall  in  no 
way  be  amenable  to  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately.  Chap.  248, 
Laws  1898. 


CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 

Notice  of  meeting  for  incorporation — Notice  of  a  meet- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  an  unincorporated 
Congregational  or  Independent  church  shall  be  given  as 
follows:  The  notice  shall  be  in  writing,  and  shall  state,  in 
substance,  that  a  meeting  of  such  unincorporated  church 
will  be  held  at  its  usual  place  of  worship  at  a  specified  day 
and  hour,  for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  such  church, 
electing  trustees  therefor,  and  selecting  a  corporate  name 
therefor.  The  notice  must  be  signed  by  at  least  six  per- 
sons of  full  age,  who  have  statedly  worshiped  with  such 
church,  and  have  regularly  contributed  to  its  support, 
according  to  its  usages,  for  at  least  one  year,  or  since  it 
was  formed.  A  copy  of  such  notice  shall  be  publicly  read 
at  a  regular  meeting  of  such  unincorporated  church  for 
public  worship,  on  the  two  successive  Sundays  imme- 
diately preceding  the  meeting,  by  the  minister  of  such 
church,  or  a  deacon  thereof,  or  by  any  person  qualified  to 
sign  such  notice. 

The  meeting  for  incorporation. — At  the  meeting  for  in- 
corporation, held  in  pursuance  of  such  notice,  the  quali- 
fied voters,  until  otherwise  decided  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided, shall  be  all  persons  of  full  age  who  have  statedly 
worshiped  with  such  church  and  have  regularly  contrib- 
uted to  its  support,  according  to  its  usages,  for  at  least 
one  year,  or  since  it  was  formed.  At  such  meeting  the 
presence  of  a  majority  of  such  qualified  voters,  at  least 
six  in  number,  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a  quorum, 
and  all  matters  or  questions  shall  be  decided  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  qualified  voters  voting  thereon.  The  meeting 
shall  be  called  to  order  by  one  of  the  signers  of  the  call. 
There  shall  be  elected  at  such  meeting,  from  the  qualified 
voters  then  present,  a  presiding  oflficer,  a  clerk  to  keep  the 
record  of  proceedings  of  the  meeting,  and  two  inspectors 
of  election  to  receive  the  ballots  cast.  The  presiding  offi- 
cer and  the  inspectors  shall  decide  the  result  of  the  bal- 
lots cast.  The  presiding  officer  and  the  inspectors  shall 
decide  the  result  of  the  ballots  cast  on  any  matter,  and 


Comjregational  Churches.  39 

shall  be  the  judges  of  the  qualifications  of  the  voters.  If 
the  meeting  shall  decide  that  such  unincorporated  church 
shall  become  incorporated,  the  meeting  shall  also  decide 
upon  the  name  of  the  proposed  corporation,  the  number 
of  the  trustees  thereof,  which  shall  be,  three,  six,  or  nine, 
and  the  date,  not  more  than  fifteen  months  thereafter, 
on  which  the  first  annual  election  of  the  trustees  thereof 
shall  be  held;  and  it  may,  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  decide 
that  all  members  of  the  unincorporated  church,  of  full 
age,  in  good  and  regular  standing,  who  have  statedly 
worshiped  with  such  church,  but  who  have  not  contrib- 
uted to  the  financial  support  thereof,  shall  also  be  quali- 
fied voters  at  such  meeting,  and  that  such  church  mem- 
bers, who,  for  one  year  next  preceding  any  subsequent  cor- 
porate meeting,  shall  have  statedly  worshiped  with  such 
church  and  have  been  members  thereof  in  good  and  regu- 
lar standing,  but  have  not  regularly  contributed  to  the 
financial  support  thereof,  shall  be  qualified  voters  at  such 
corporate  meetings.  Such  meetings  shall  thereupon  elect 
by  ballot  from  the  persons  qualified  to  vote  thereat  one- 
third  of  the  number  of  trustees  so  decided  on,  who  shall 
hold  office  until  the  first  annual  election  of  trustees  there- 
after, and  one-third  of  such  number  of  trustees  who  shall 
hold  office  until  the  second  annual  election  of  trustees 
thereafter,  one-third  of  such  number  of  trustees  who  shall 
hold  office  until  the  third  annual  election  of  trustees 
thereafter,  or  until  the  respective  successors  of  such  trus- 
tees shall  be  elected.  Such  meeting  shall  also  elect  by 
ballot  a  clerk  of  the  corporation,  who  shall  hold  his  office 
until  the  close  of  the  next  annual  meeting. 

The  certificate  of  incorporation. — If  the  meeting  shall 
decide  that  such  unincorporated  church  shall  become  in- 
corporated, the  presiding  officer  of  such  meeting  and  the 
two  inspectors  of  election  shall  execute  a  certificate  set- 
ting forth  the  name  of  the  proposed  corporation,  the  num- 
ber of  trustees  thereof,  the  names  of  the  persons  elected 
as  trustees,  the  terms  of  office  for  which  they  were  respect- 
ively elected,  and  the  county  or  town,  city  or  village, 
in  which  its  principal  place  of  worship  is,  or  is  intended 


4:0  Civil  Church  Laic — Netv  Yoi'k. 

to  be,  located.  On  the  filing  and  recording  of  such  cer- 
tificate, after  it  shall  have  been  acknowledged  or  proved 
as  hereinbefore  provided,  the  persons  qualified  to  vote  at 
such  meeting  and  those  persons  who  shall  thereafter, 
from  time  to  time,  be  qualified  voters  at  the  corporate 
meetings  thereof,  shall  be  a  corporation  by  the  name 
stated  in  such  certificate,  and  the  persons  therein  stated 
to  be  elected  as  trustees  of  such  church  shall  be  the  trus- 
tees thereof  for  the  terms  for  which  they  were  respective- 
ly elected,  and  until  their  respective  successors  shall  be 
elected. 

Time,  place,  and  notice  of  corporate  meetings. — The 
annual  corporate  meeting  of  every  church  incorporated 
under  this  article  shall  be  held  at  the  time  and  place  fixed 
by  its  by-laws,  or,  if  no  time  and  place  be  so  fixed,  then 
at  a  time  and  place  to  be  first  fixed  by  its  trustees,  but 
to  be  changed  only  by  a  by-law  to  be  adopted  at  an  an- 
nual meeting.  A  special  corporate  meeting  of  any  such 
church  may  be  called  by  the  body  of  trustees  thereof,  on 
its  own  motion,  and  shall  be  called  on  the  written  request 
of  at  least  ten  qualified  voters  of  such  church.  The  trus- 
tees shall  cause  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  its  annual 
corporate  meeting,  and  of  the  names  of  any  trustees 
whose  successors  are  to  be  elected  thereat,  and  if  a  special 
meeting,  of  the  business  to  be  transacted  thereat,  to  be 
publicly  read  by  the  minister  of  such  church  or  any  of  the 
trustees  thereof  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  church  for 
public  w^orship,  on  the  two  successive  Sundays  imme- 
diately preceding  such  meeting. 

Org^anization  and  conduct  of  corporate  meetings ;  quali- 
fication of  voters.  —  At  every  corporate  meeting  of  a 
church  incorporated  under  this  article  all  persons  of  full 
age  who,  for  one  year  next  preceding  such  meeting,  have 
statedly  worshiped  with  such  church  and  have  regularly 
contributed  to  its  financial  support,  according  to  its 
usages,  and  no  others,  shall  be  qualified  voters;  but,  if  so 
decided,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  at  the  original  meeting  or  at 
any  annual  corporate  meeting  thereof  after  notice  of  in- 
tention so  to  do  has  been  given  with  every  notice  of  such 


Congregational  Churches.  41 

meeting,  all  members  of  such  church  of  full  age  and  in 
good  and  regular  standing,  by  admission  into  full  com- 
munion or  membership  therewith,  who  have  statedly  wor- 
shiped with  such  church  for  one  year  next  preceding  the 
meeting  at  which  they  vote,  may  also  be  admitted  as 
qualified  voters  at  corporate  meetings.  At  such  corpo- 
rate meetings,  the  presence  of  at  least  six  persons  quali- 
fied to  vote  thereat  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a 
quorum;  and  all  matters  or  questions  shall  be  decided  by 
a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  voting  thereon,  except 
that  by-laws  can  be  adopted  and  amended  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote.  The  clerk  of  the  corporation  shall  call  the 
meeting  to  order;  and  under  his  supervision  the  qualified 
voters  then  present  shall  choose  a  presiding  officer  and 
two  inspectors  of  election  to  receive  the  ballots  cast. 
The  presiding  officer  and  the  inspectors  of  election  shall 
declare  the  results  of  the  ballots  cast  on  any  matter, 
and  shall  be  the  judges  of  the  qualifications  of  voters.  At 
each  annual  corporate  meeting,  successors  to  those  trus- 
tees, whose  terms  of  office  then  expire,  shall  be  elected  by 
ballot  from  the  qualified  voters,  for  a  term  of  three  years 
thereafter,  and  until  their  successors  shall  be  elected.  A 
clerk  of  the  corporation  shall  be  elected  by  ballot,  who 
shall  hold  office  until  the  close  of  the  next  annual  meet- 
ing, and  until  his  successor  shall  be  elected. 

Changing  date  of  annual  corporate  meetings. — An  an- 
nual corporate  meeting  of  any  church  incorporated  under 
this  article  may  change  the  date  of  its  subsequent  an- 
nual meetings.  If  the  date  fixed  for  the  annual  meeting 
shall  be  less  than  six  months  after  the  annual  meeting 
at  which  such  change  is  made,  the  next  annual  meeting 
shall  be  held  one  year  from  the  date  so  fixed.  For  the 
purpose  of  determining  the  terms  of  office  of  trustees,  the 
time  between  the  annual  meeting  at  which  such  change  is 
made  and  the  next  annual  meeting  thereafter  shall  be 
reckoned  as  one  year. 

Changing  the  number  of  trustees. — Any  such  incorpo- 
rated church  may,  at  an  annual  corporate  meeting, 
change  the  number  of  its  trustees  to  three,  six,  or  nine. 


42  Civil  Church  Law — Neic  York. 

classifying  them  so  that  the  terms  of  one-third  expire 
each  year,  provided  that  notice  of  such  intended  change 
be  included  in  the  notice  of  such  annual  corporate  meet- 
ing. No  such  change  shall  affect  the  terms  of  the  trus- 
tees then  in  office;  and  if  the  change  reduces  the  number 
of  trustees,  elections  shall  not  be  held  to  fill  the  vacancies 
caused  by  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  trustees,  until 
the  number  of  trustees  equals  the  number  to  which  the 
trustees  are  reduced.  Whenever  the  number  of  trustees 
in  office  is  less  than  the  number  so  determined  on.  suffi- 
cient additional  trustees  shall  be  elected  to  make  the 
number  of  trustees  equal  to  the  number  so  determined 
on.  The  trustees  so  elected,  up  to  and  including  the  one- 
third  of  the  number  so  determined  on,  shall  be  elected 
for  three  years,  the  remainder  up  to  and  including  one- 
third  of  the  number  so  determined  on  for  two  years,  and 
the  remainder  for  one  year. 

Meetings  of  trustees. — Meetings  of  the  trustees  of  any 
such  incorporated  church  shall  be  called  by  giving  at 
least  twenty-four  hours'  notice  thereof  personally  or  by 
mail  to  all  the  trustees;  and  such  notice  may  be  given 
by  two  of  the  trustees;  but  by  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  trustees,  a  meeting  may  be  held  without  previous 
notice  thereof.  A  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  trus- 
tees shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness, at  any  meeting  lawfully  convened. 

The  creation  and  filling  of  vacancies  among  trustees  of 
sucli  chiurches. — If  any  trustee  of  any  such  incorporated 
church  declines  to  act,  resigns,  or  dies,  or  ceases  to  be  a 
qualified  voter  at  a  corporate  meeting  thereof,  his  office 
shall  be  vacant;  and  such  vacancy  may  be  filled  by  the 
remaining  trustees  until  the  next  annual  corporate  meet- 
ing of  such  church;  at  which  meeting  the  vacancy  shall 
be  filled  for  the  unexpired  term. 

Limitation  of  powers  of  trustees — The  trustees  of  any 
such  incorporated  church  shall  have  no  power  to  call,  set- 
tle, or  remove  a  minister,  or  to  fix  his  salary,  nor  without 
the  consent  of  a  corporate  meeting  to  incur  debts,  beyond 
what  is  necessary  for  the  administration  of  the  temporal 


Congregational  Churches.  43 

affairs  of  the  church,  and  for  the  care  of  the  property  of 
the  corporation;  or  to  fix  or  change  the  time,  nature,  or 
order  of  the  public  or  social  worship  of  such  church. 

Election  and  salary  of  ministers. — The  ministers  of  any 
such  church  shall  be  called,  settled,  or  removed,  and  their 
salaries  fixed,  only  by  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  such  corporation  duly  qualified  to  vote  at  elec- 
tions present  and  voting  at  a  meeting  of  such  corpora- 
tion, specially  called  for  that  purpose,  in  the  manner 
hereinbefore  provided  for  the  call  of  special  meetings; 
and  any  such  corporation  may,  by  its  by-laws,  make  the 
call,  settlement,  or  removal  of  its  ministers  depend  upon 
the  concurrent  vote  of  the  unincorporated  church,  pres- 
ent and  voting,  at  a  meeting  thereof,  called  for  that  pur- 
pose and  such  vote  shall  be  necessary  to  the  call,  settle- 
ment, or  removal  of  such  ministers. 

Transfer  of  property  to  other  corporations. — Any  in- 
corporated Congregational  church,  created  by  or  existing 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  or  whose  last 
place  of  worship  was  within  the  State  of  New  York,  is 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered,  by  the  concurrent 
vote  of  two-thirds  of  its  qualified  voters  present  and  vot- 
ing therefor,  at  a  meeting  regularly  called  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  of  two-thirds  of  all  its  trustees,  to  direct  the 
transfer  and  conveyance  of  any  of  its  property,  real  or 
personal,  which  it  now  has  or  may  hereafter  acquire,  to 
any  religious,  charitable,  or  missionary  corporation  con- 
nected with  the  Congregational  denomination  and  incor- 
porated by  or  organized  under  any  law  or  laws  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  either  solely,  or  among  other  pur- 
poses, to  establish  or  maintain,  or  to  assist  in  establishing 
or  maintaining  churches,  schools,  or  mission  stations,  or 
to  erect  or  to  assist  in  the  erection  of  such  buildings  as 
may  be  necessary  for  any  of  such  purposes,  with  or  with- 
out the  payment  of  any  money  or  other  consideration 
therefor;  and  upon  such  concurrent  votes  being  given,  the 
trustees  shall  execute  such  transfer  or  conveyance;  and 
upon  the  same  being  made,  the  title  to  and  the  ownership 
and  right  of  possession  of  the  property  so  transferred  and 


44  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

conveyed,  shall  be  vested  in  and  conveyed  to  such  gran- 
tee; provided,  however,  that  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  impair  or  affect  in  any  way  any  existing  claim  upon 
or  lien  against  any  property  so  transferred  or  conveyed, 
or  any  action  at  law  or  legal  proceeding;  and  such  trans- 
fer shall  be  subject,  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  property 
the  said  grantee  may  take  and  hold  to  the  restrictions 
and  limitations  of  all  laws  then  in  force.  Chapter  621, 
Laws  1897. 


^ 


EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 

The  provisions  of  article  five,  chapter  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-three  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-five  (general  provisions),  are  applicable  to  an  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church  incorporated  before  October 
first,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-five,  if  the  trustees 
thereof  were  then  elective  as  such,  and  so  long  as  they 
continue  to  be  elective  as  such.  The  special  provisions 
for  the  incorporation  and  government  of  Lutheran 
churches,  article  four  of  chapter  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-three  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty- 
five,  are  applicable  to  an  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
incorporated  before  October  first,  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-five,  if  its  trustees  were  not  then  elective  as  such, 
and  so  long  as  its  trustees  continue  not  to  be  elective  as 
such.    Chap.  621,  Laws  1897. 

Decision  by  Lutheran  Churches  as  to  system  of  incor- 
poration and  government. — A  meeting  for  the  purpose 
of  incorporating  an  unincorporated  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church  must  be  called  and  held  in  pursuance  of  the  gen- 
eral provisions  of  chapter  seven  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  of  the  law^s  of  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-five, 
except  that  the  first  business  of  such  meeting  after  its 
organization  shall  be  to  determine  where  such  church 
shall  be  incorporated  and  governed  in  pursuance  of  the 
special  provisions  for  the  incorporation  and  government 
of  Lutheran  churches  or  in  pursuance  of  the  general  pro- 
visions. If  such  meeting  determines  that  such  church 
shall  be  incorporated  and  governed  in  pursuance  of  the 
special  provisions,  then  no  further  proceedings  shall  be 
taken  in  pursuance  of  the  general  provisions,  and  such 
church  may  be  incorporated  and  shall  be  governed  after 
its  incorporation  in  pursuance  of  the  special  provisions, 
except  such  provisions  as  are  applicable  only  to  churches 
of  a  different  denomination;  and  the  certificate  of  incor- 
poration shall  recite  such  determination  of  such  meeting. 
If  such  meeting  determine  that  such  church  shall  be  in- 
corporated in  pursuance  of  the  general  provisions,  then 


46  Ciril  Church   Lav; — Neic  Yorl\ 

this  act  shall  not  be  applicable  thereto,  but  such  church 
may  be  incorporated  and  shall  be  governed  after  incor- 
poration in  pursuance  of  the  general  provisions.  Chap. 
35,  Laws  1896. 


FREE  CHURCHES. 

How  incorporated. — Any  seven  or  more  persons  of  full 
age,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  a  majority  of  them 
being  residents  of  this  State,  who  shall  associate  them- 
selves for  the  purpose  of  founding  and  continuing  one  or 
more  free  churches,  may  make,  sign  and  acknowledge, 
before  any  officer  authorized  to  take  the  acknowledgment 
of  deeds  of  land  to  be  recorded  in  this  State,  and  may 
file  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  also  of  the 
Clerk  of  the  County  in  which  any  such  church  is  to  be 
established,  a  certificate  in  writing,  in  which  shall  be 
stated  the  name  or  title  by  which  such  society  shall  be 
known  in  the  law,  the  purpose  of  its  organization,  and  the 
names  of  seven  trustees,  of  whom  not  less  than  five  shall 
be  persons  who  are  not  ministers  of  the  Gospel  or  priests 
of  any  denomination,  to  manage  the  same;  but  such  cer- 
tificate shall  not  be  filed,  unless  with  the  written  consent 
and  approbation  of  a  justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  the 
district  in  which  any  such  church  shall  be  intended  to  be 
established,  or  in  the  city  of  New  York  of  a  judge  of  the 
superior  court  of  said  city,  to  be  indorsed  on  such  certi- 
ficate. 

Powers,  limitations  upon  property,  liability  of  trus- 
tees. — Upon  the  filing  of  such  certificate  the  persons 
named  therein  as  trustees  and  their  their  successors,  be- 
ing citizens  of  the  United  States  and  residents  of  this 
State,  shall  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  with  all  the 
rights,  powers,  and  duties,  and  subject  to  all  restrictions 
and  obligations  and  other  provisions,  so  far  as  the  same 
may  be  applicable  and  consistent  with  this  act,  specified 
and  contained  in  the  act  entitled  "  An  act  for  the  incor- 
poration of  benevolent,  charitable,  scientific,  and  mis- 
sionary societies,"  passed  April  12,  1848,  and  the  act 
amending  the  same,  passed  April  7,  1849,  except  that  the 
limitation  in  the  first  of  the  said  acts  of  the  value  of  the 
real  estate  that  may  be  held  by  any  society  in  the  city  and 
county  of  New  York,  incorporated  under  this  act,  shall 
not  be  applicable  to  any  church  edifice  erected  or  owned 


48  Civil  Church  Law — New  YorJc. 

by  such  society,  or  the  lot  of  ground  on  which  the  same 
may  be  built;  and  except  that  the  provision  in  the  first  of 
the  said  acts,  in  relation  to  the  personal  liability  of  trus- 
tees, shall  be  applicable  only  to  the  trustees  who  shall 
have  consented  to  the  creation  of  any  debt. 

Vacancies  in  boards. — Any  vacancies  occurring  in  the 
said  board  of  trustees  shall  be  supplied  by  the  remaining 
trustees  at  any  legal  meeting  of  the  members;  but  there 
shall  always  be  at  least,  five  members  of  the  board  who 
are  not  ministers  of  the  gospel  or  priests  of  any  denomi- 
nation. 

Pews  to  be  free. — The  seats  or  pews  in  every  church 
building  or  edifice  owned  or  occupied  by  a  corporation 
organized  under  this  act,  shall  be  forever  free  for  the  oc- 
cupation and  use,  during  public  worship,  of  all  persons 
choosing  to  occupy  the  same,  and  conducting  themselves 
with  propriety,  and  no  rent,  charge,  or  exaction  shall  ever 
be  made  or  demanded  for  such  occupation  or  use;  nor 
shall  any  real  estate  belonging  to  any  such  corporation 
be  sold  or  mortgaged  by  the  trustees  thereof,  unless  by 
the  direction  of  the  supreme  court,  to  be  given  in  the  same 
manner  and  in  the  like  cases  as  provided  by  law  in  rela- 
tion to  religious  corporations. — Chap.  218,  Laws  1854. 

The  trustees  of  a  free  church  may  direct  where  persons 
shall  sit,  and  unless  one  has  acquired,  by  usage  or  other- 
wise, some  right  to  a  particular  seat,  a  trustee  may,  after 
request  and  refusal,  remove  him  forcibly  therefrom;  the 
trustee's  authority  to  do  so  need  not  be  conferred  by  for- 
mal vote  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  board,  but  it  is  sutfi- 
cient  if  they  ratify  his  action.  So  held  in  an  action  for 
damages  for  ejecting  plaintiff.  Sheldon  rs.  Vail,  28  Hun., 
354,  1882. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCHES. 

Corporations  for  acquiring  parsonages  for  presiding 
elders  and  camp-meeting  grounds. — The  presiding  elder 
and  a  majority  of  the  district  stewards  residing  within 
a  presiding  elder's  district,  erected  by  an  annual  confer- 
ence of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  denomination,  may  be- 
come incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring,  maintain- 
ing, and  improving  real  property  to  be  used  either  as  a 
parsonage  for  the  presiding  elder  of  such  district  or  as  a 
camp  ground  for  camp-meeting  purposes,  or  for  both  of 
such  objects,  by  executing,  acknowledging,  and  filing  a 
certificate  stating  the  name  and  object  of  the  corporation 
to  be  formed,  the  name  of  such  annual  conference,  and  of 
such  presiding  elder's  district,  the  names,  residences,  and 
official  relation  to  such  district  of  the  signers  thereof,  the 
number  of  trustees  of  such  corporation,  which  shall  be 
three  or  some  multiple  of  three,  not  more  than  twenty -one, 
the  names  of  such  trustees,  designating  one-third  to  hold 
office  for  three  years,  one-third  to  hold  office  for  two  years, 
and  one-third  to  hold  office  for  one  year.  On  filing  such 
certificate  the  presiding  elder  and  all  the  stewards  of  such 
district,  by  virtue  of  their  respective  offices,  shall  be  a  cor- 
l^oration  by  the  name  and  for  the  purposes  therein  stated, 
and  the  persons  therein  named  shall  be  the  first  trustees 
thereof.  The  presiding  elder  and  the  stewards  of  another 
adjoining  presiding  elder's  district,  in  this  or  any  other 
State,  may  become  members  of  any  such  corporation,  at 
the  time  of  its  formation  or  any  time  thereafter,  with  the 
consent  of  such  corporation,  which  has  for  its  sole  object, 
or  for  one  of  its  objects,  the  acquiring,  maintaining,  and 
improving  of  real  property  as  a  camp  ground  for  camp- 
meeting  purposes,  if  such  presiding  elder  and  a  majority 
of  such  stewards  sign,  acknowledge,  and  cause  to  be  filed 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  a  certificate  stating 
such  object,  the  name  of  such  district,  and  the  names,  resi- 
dences, and  official  relations  to  such  district  of  the  signers 
thereof,  with  the  consent  of  the  original  corporation  in- 
dorsed thereon. 


50  Civil  Church  Law — Neiv  York. 

If  such  a  corporation,  which  has  for  its  sole  object  or 
one  of  its  objects,  the  acquisition  and  maintenance  of 
camp  grounds  for  camp-meeting  purposes,  is  composed  of 
the  presiding  elders  and  the  district  stewards  of  more 
than  one  presiding  elder's  district,  the  number  of  such 
trustees  shall  be  apportioned  equally,  as  near  as  may  be, 
betw^een  the  different  districts,  and  the  presiding  elder 
and  district  stewards  of  such  district  shall  elect  the 
names  of  trustees  so  apportioned  to  such  district,  and  the 
remainder,  if  any,  over  an  equal  division  of  the  trustees, 
shall  be  elected  by  all  the  members  of  the  corporation. 

A  person  holding  property  in  trust  for  the  purposes  of  a 
parsonage  for  the  presiding  elder  of  a  district,  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  office,  or  for  camp  meeting  purposes,  for  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  denomination,  may  convey  the  same 
to  a  corporation  formed  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  such 
property  within  the  district  in  which  the  property  is  situ- 
ated. Meetings  held  under  the  direction  of  such  a  corpor- 
ation upon  camp  grounds  owned  by  it  shall  be  deemed 
religious  meetings,  within  the  provision  of  law  relating 
to  disturbances  of  religious  meetings,  and  the  trustees  of 
such  a  corporation  shall  have  the  powers  of  peace  officers 
with  relation  thereto.  Whenever  such  a  corporation  or 
any  camp-ground  association  owns  land  bordering  upon 
any  navigable  waters,  to  be  used  for  any  camp-meeting 
purposes  only,  such  corporation  or  association  may  regu- 
late or  prohibit  the  landing  of  persons  or  vessels  at  the 
wharves,  piers,  or  shores  upon  such  grounds  during  the 
holding  of  religious  services  thereon. 

If  the  trustees  of  any  such  corporation  heretofore  in- 
corporated have  not  been  classified,  so  that  the  terms  of 
office  of  one-third  of  their  number  expire  each  year,  the 
trustees  of  such  corporation  shall  be  elected  annually  by 
the  members  thereof;  but  if  the  trustees  of  any  such  cor- 
poration have  been  so  classified,  one-third  of  the  total 
number  of  trustees  shall  be  elected  annually  to  hold  of- 
fice for  three  years.  Such  a  corporation  heretofore  incor- 
porated may,  by  a  majority  vote,  at  an  annual  meeting, 
or  at  a  special  meeting  duly  called  therefor,  determine  to 


Methodist  Episcopal  Churches.  51 

change  the  number  of  its  trustees  to  three,  or  some  mul- 
tiple thereof — not  more  than  twenty-one.  On  such  deter- 
mination a  majority  of  the  trustees  shall  sign,  acknowl- 
edge, and  file  in  the  offices  where  the  original  certificate  of 
such  corporation  is  filed,  a  supplemental  certificate,  speci- 
fying such  reduction  or  increase;  and  thereon  the  num- 
ber of  trustees  shall  be  the  number  stated  in  such  certifi- 
cate. If  the  number  of  trustees  is  increased,  the  corpora- 
tion shall  elect,  at  its  next  annual  meeting,  a  sufficient 
number  of  trustees  to  hold  office  for  one,  two,  or  three 
years  respectively,  so  that  the  terms  of  office  of  one- 
third  of  the  whole  number  of  trustees  of  such  corporation 
shall  expire  at  each  annual  meeting  thereafter. 

If  the  number  is  reduced,  the  corporation  shall  there- 
after elect  at  its  annual  meetings  one-third  of  the  number 
of  trustees  specified  in  such  supplemental  certificate,  but 
the  trustees  in  office  when  such  certificate  is  filed  shall 
continue  in  office  until  the  expiration  of  their  terms,  re- 
spectively.   Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 


PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHUECHES. 

The  meeting  for  incorporation. — Notice  of  a  meeting 
for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  an  unincorporated  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  parish  or  congregation,  and  of  electing 
the  first  church  wardens  and  vestrymen  thereof,  shall 
specify  the  object,  time,  and  place  of  such  meeting,  and 
shall  be  made  public  for  at  least  two  weeks  prior  to  such 
meeting,  either  by  open  reading  of  such  notice  in  time  of 
divine  service,  at  the  usual  place  of  worship  of  such 
parish  or  congregation,  or  by  posting  the  same  conspic- 
uously on  the  outer  door  of  such  place  of  worship.  Only 
men  of  full  age  who  have  been  regular  attendants  at 
the  worship  of  such  parish  or  congregation  and  contrib- 
utors to  the  support  thereof  for  one  year  next  prior  to 
such  meeting,  or  since  the  establishment  of  such  parish 
or  congregation,  shall  be  qualified  to  vote  at  such  meet- 
ing. The  action  of  the  meeting  upon  any  matter  or  ques- 
tion shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  qualified  vote- 
ers  voting  thereon,  a  quorum  being  present. 

The  officiating  minister,  or  if  there  be  none,  or  he  shall 
be  necessarily  absent,  any  other  person  qualified  to  vote 
at  the  meeting,  who  is  called  to  the  chair,  shall  preside 
thereat.  Such  presiding  officer  shall  receive  the  votes, 
be  the  judge  of  the  qualification  of  voters,  and  declare  the 
result  of  the  votes  cast  at  such  meeting.  The  polls  of  the 
meeting  shall  remain  open  for  one  hour  or  longer,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  presiding  officer,  or,  if  required,  by  a 
vote  of  the  majority  of  the  voters  present.  The  meeting 
shall  decide  whether  such  unincorporated  parish  or  con- 
gregation shall  become  incorporated.  If  such  decision 
be  in  favor  of  incorporation,  such  meeting  shall  decide 
upon  the  name  of  the  proposed  incorporation;  what  sec- 
ular day  of  the  week,  beginning  with  the  first  Sunday  in 
Advent,  shall  be  the  date  of  the  regular  annual  election; 
whether  the  vestrymen  thereof  shall  be  three,  six,  or  nine; 
and  shall  be  elected  by  ballot  from  the  persons  qualified 
to  be  voters  thereat,  who  have  been  baptized;  one-third 
of  the  number  of  vestrymen  so  decided  upon  to  hold  of- 


Protestant  Episcopal  Churches.  53 

fice  until  the  first  annual  election,  to  be  held  thereafter, 
one-third  of  such  number  to  hold  office  until  one  year 
after  such  annual  election,  and  one-third  of  such  num- 
ber to  hold  office  until  two  years  after  such  annual  elec- 
tion; and  shall  elect  from  such  qualified  voters  who  are 
communicants  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  two 
persons  to  be  church  wardens  thereof,  one  to  hold  office 
until  such  annual  election,  and  one  to  hold  office  until 
one  year  after  such  annual  election.  Chap.  358,  Laws, 
1898. 

The     certificate    of     incorporation If    such    meeting 

shall  decide  in  favor  of  incorporation  and  comply  with 
the  next  preceding  section,  the  presiding  officer  of  such 
meeting,  and  at  least  two  other  persons  present  and  vot- 
ing thereat,  shall  execute  and  acknowledge  a  certificate 
of  incorporation,  setting  forth : 

1.  The  fact  of  the  calling  and  holding  of  such  meeting. 

2.  The  name  of  the  corporation,  as  decided  upon 
thereat. 

3.  The  county  and  the  towm,  city,  or  village,  in  which 
its  principal  place  of  worship  is,  or  is  intended  to  be  lo- 
cated. 

4.  The  day  of  the  week,  commencing  with  the  first  Sun- 
day in  Advent,  upon  which  the  annual  election  shall  be 
held. 

5.  The  number  of  vestrymen  decided  upon  at  such  meet- 
ing. 

6.  The  names  of  the  vestrymen  elected  at  such  meeting 
and  the  term  of  office  of  each, 

7.  The  names  of  the  church  wardens  elected  at  such 
meeting  and  the  term  of  office  of  each. 

On  filing  such  certificate  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of 
the  county,  so  specified  therein,  the  church  wardens  and 
vestrymen  so  elected,  and  their  successors  in  office,  to- 
gether with  the  rector,  when  there  is  one,  shall  form  a 
vestry,  and  shall  be  the  trustees  of  such  church  or  con- 
gregation; and  they  and  their  successors  shall  thereupon, 
by  virtue  of  this  act,  be  a  body  corporate,  by  the  name 
or  title  expressed    in  such    certificate,    and  shall    have 


54  Civil  Church  Laic — 'New  York. 

power,  from  time  to  time,  to  adopt  by-laws  for  its  govern- 
ance. Such  corporation  shall  be  an  incorporated  church, 
and  may  be  termed  also  an  incorporated  parish. 

Corporate  trustees,  vestry;  powers  and  duties  there- 
of.— No  meeting  of  the  vestry  or  trustees  of  any  incorpo- 
rated Protestant  Episcopal  parish  or  church  shall  be  held 
unless  either  all  the  members  thereof  are  present,  or 
three  days'  notice  thereof  shall  be  given  to  each  member 
thereof,  by  the  rector,  in  writing,  either  personally  or  by 
mail,  or,  if  there  be  no  rector,  or  if  he  be  incapable  of 
acting,  by  one  of  the  church  wardens;  except  that  twenty- 
four  hours'  notice  of  the  first  meeting  of  the  vestry  or 
trustees  after  an  annual  election  shall  be  suflBcient,  pro- 
vided such  meeting  shall  be  held  within  three  days  after 
the  election.  To  constitute  a  quorum  of  the  vestry  or 
board  of  trustees  there  must  be  present  either: 

1.  The  rector,  at  least  one  of  the  church  wardens,  and 
a  majority  of  the  vestrymen;  or, 

2.  The  rector,  both  church  wardens  and  one  less  than 
a  majority  of  the  vestrymen;  or, 

3.  If  the  rector  be  absent  from  the  diocese  and  shall 
have  been  so  absent  for  over  four  calendar  months,  or  if 
the  meeting  be  called  by  the  rector  and  he  be  absent 
therefrom,  or  be  incapable  of  acting,  one  church  warden 
and  a  majority  of  the  vestrymen,  or  both  church  wardens 
and  one  less  than  a  majority  of  the  vestrymen. 

But  if  there  be  a  rector  of  the  parish,  no  measure  shall 
be  taken,  in  his  absence,  in  any  case,  for  effecting  the 
sale  or  disposition  of  the  real  property  of  the  corpora- 
tion, nor  for  the  sale  or  disposition  of  the  capital  or  prin- 
cipal of  the  personal  property  of  the  corporation,  nor  shall 
any  act  be  done  which  shall  impair  the  rights  of  such 
rector.  The  presiding  officer  of  the  vestry  or  trustees 
shall  be  the  rector,  or,  if  there  be  none,  or  he  be  absent, 
the  church  warden  who  shall  be  called  to  the  chair  by  a 
majority  of  the  votes,  if  both  the  church  wardens  be  pres- 
ent; or  the  church  warden  present,  if  but  one  be  present. 
At  each  meeting  of  the  vestry  or  trustees  each  member 
thereof  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote.     The  vestry  shall 


Protestant  Episcopal  Churches.  55 

have  power  to  fill  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the  office  of  a 
church  warden  or  vestryman  by  death,  resignation,  or 
otherwise  than  by  expiration  of  term,  until  the  next  an- 
nual election,  at  which,  if  such  vacancy  would  continue 
thereafter,  it  shall  be  filled  for  the  remainder  of  the  un- 
expired term.  The  vestry  may,  subject  to  the  canons  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States, 
and  of  the  diocese  in  which  the  parish  or  church  is  sit- 
uated, by  a  majority  vote,  elect  a  rector  to  fill  a  vacancy 
occurring  in  the  rectorship  of  the  parish,  and  may  fix  the 
salary  or  compensation  of  the  rector. 

Annual  elections  of  incorporated  Protestant  Episcopal 
parishes.  —  The  annual  election  of  a  Protestant  Episco- 
pal parish,  hereafter  incorporated,  shall  be  held  on  the 
secular  day  in  the  week  commencing  with  the  first 
Sunday  in  Advent,  designated  in  its  certificate  of  incor- 
poration. The  annual  election  of  an  incorporated  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  parish  or  church  heretofore  incorporated 
shall  be  held  on  the  day  fixed  for  such  annual  election, 
by  or  in  pursuance  of  law,  or  if  no  such  date  be  so  fixed, 
then  on  the  Monday  next  after  the  first  Sunday  in  Ad- 
vent. Notice  of  such  annual  election  shall  be  read  by  the 
rector  of  the  parish,  or  if  there  be  none,  or  he  be  absent, 
by  the  officiating  minister  or  by  a  church  warden  thereof, 
on  each  of  the  two  Sundays  next  preceding  such  election, 
in  the  time  of  divine  service,  or  if,  for  any  reason,  the 
usual  place  of  worship  of  the  parish  be  not  open  for  di- 
vine service,  the  notice  shall  be  posted  conspicuously  on 
the  outer  door  of  the  place  of  worship  for  two  weeks  next 
preceding  the  election.  Such  notice  shall  specify  the 
place,  day,  and  hour  of  holding  the  election,  the  name 
and  term  of  office  of  each  church  warden  and  vestryman 
whose  term  of  office  shall  then  expire,  or  whose  office 
shall  then  be  vacant  for  any  cause,  and  the  office  for 
which  each  such  officer  is  to  be  then  elected.  The  meeting 
for  such  annual  election  shall  be  held  immediately  after 
morning  service.  The  presiding  officer  of  such  meeting 
shall  be  the  rector  thereof,  if  there  be  one,  or  if  there  be 
none,  or  he  be  absent,  one  of  the  church  wardens  elected 


56  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

for  the  purpose,  by  a  majority  of  the  duly  qualified  voters 
present,  or  if  no  church  warden  be  present,  a  vestryman 
elected  in  like  manner. 

Such  presiding  officer  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  qualifi- 
cation of  the  voters,  shall  receive  the  votes  cast,  and  shall 
declare  the  result  of  the  votes  cast  at  such  election.  The 
presiding  officer  of  such  meeting  shall  enter  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  meeting  in  the  book  of  the  minutes  of  the  ves- 
try, sign  his  name  thereto,  and  offer  the  same  to  as  many 
qualified  voters  present,  as  he  shall  think  fit,  to  be  also 
signed  by  them.  Only  men  of  full  age,  belonging  to  the 
parish,  who  have  been  regular  attendants  at  its  worship 
and  contributors  to  its  support  for  at  least  twelve  months 
prior  to  such  election,  or  since  the  establishment  of  such 
parish,  shall  be  qualified  voters  at  any  such  election. 
The  action  of  the  meeting  upon  any  matter  or  question 
shall  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters 
voting  thereon.  The  polls  of  the  election  shall  continue 
open  for  one  hour,  and  longer,  in  the  discretion  of  the 
presiding  officer,  or,  if  required,  by  a  vote  of  the  majority 
of  the  qualified  voters  present  and  voting.  The  church 
wardens  and  vestrymen  shall  be  elected  by  ballot  from 
persons  qualified  to  vote  at  such  election,  and  no  person 
shall  be  eligible  for  election  as  church  warden,  unless 
he  be  also  a  communicant  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  nor  be  eligible  for  election  as  vestryman,  unless 
he  shall  have  been  baptized.  At  each  annual  election  of 
an  incorporated  Protestant  Episcopal  parish  hereafter 
incorporated,  one  church  warden  shall  be  elected  to  hold 
office  for  two  years;  and  one-third  of  the  total  number 
of  the  vestrymen  of  the  parish  shall  be  elected  to  hold  of- 
fice for  three  years.  At  each  annual  election  of  an  in- 
corporated Protestant  Episcopal  parish  or  church  here- 
tofore incorporated  two  church  wardens  and  the  total 
number  of  its  vestrymen  shall  be  elected  to  hold  office  for 
one  year  thereafter,  unless  the  terms  of  office  of  but  one 
church  warden  or  of  but  one-third  of  its  vestrymen  shall 
then  expire,  in  which  case  one  church  warden  shall  be 
elected  to  hold  office  for  two  years,  and  one-third  of  the 


Protestant  Episcopal  Churches.  57 

total  number  of  its  vestrymen  shall  be  elected  to  hold  of- 
fice for  three  years.  Each  church  warden  and  vestryman 
shall  hold  oflflce  after  the  expiration  of  his  term,  until  his 
successor  shall  be  chosen. 

Changing  the  number  of  vestrymen  of  Protestant  Epis- 
copal parishes  hereafter  incorporated. — If  the  vestry  of 
a  Protestant  Episcopal  parish,  hereafter  incorporated, 
shall,  by  resolution,  recommend  that,  the  number  of 
vestrymen  of  such  parish  be  changed  to  either  three,  six, 
or  nine  vestrymen,  notice  of  such  recommendation  shall 
be  included  in  the  notice  of  the  next  annual  election  of 
such  parish,  and  be  submitted  to  the  meeting.  If  such 
recommendation  be  ratified  by  such  meeting,  the  presid- 
ing officer  thereof,  and  at  least  two  qualified  voters  pres- 
ent thereat,  shall  execute  and  acknowledge  a  certificate, 
setting  forth  such  resolution  of  the  vestry;  the  fact  that 
notice  thereof  had  been  given  with  the  notice  of  such  an- 
nual election;  that  the  meeting  had  ratified  the  same; 
and  the  number  of  vestrymen  so  decided  on.  Such  certifi- 
cate shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  in 
which  the  original  certificate  of  incorporation  is  filed  and 
recorded,  and  such  change  in  the  number  of  vestrymen 
shall  take  effect  at  the  time  of  the  next  annual  election 
thereafter.  If  the  number  of  vestrymen  be  thereby  in- 
creased, then,  in  addition  to  the  number  of  vestrymen 
to  be  elected  at  such  annual  election,  one-third  of  such 
increased  number  of  vestrymen  shall  be  elected  to  hold 
office  for  one  year  thereafter,  one-third  of  such  increased 
number  shall  be  elected  to  hold  office  for  two  years  there- 
after, and  one-third  of  such  increased  number  shall  be 
elected  to  hold  office  for  three  years  thereafter.  If  the 
number  of  vestrymen  by  such  change  be  reduced,  such 
reduction  shall  not  affect  the  term  of  office  of  any  vestry- 
man duly  elected,  and  at  such  next  annual  election,  and 
at  each  annual  election  thereafter,  one-third  of  such  re- 
duced number  of  vestrymen  shall  be  elected  to  hold  office 
for  three  years. 


58  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

Changing  date  of  annual  election,  number  and  term  of 
office  of  church  wardens  in  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches 
heretofore  incorporated.  —  If  the  vestry  of  a  Protestant 
Episcopal  parish  heretofore  incorporated,  shall,  by  reso- 
lution, recommend  that  the  date  of  the  annual  elec- 
tion be  changed  to  a  secular  day  in  the  week  begin- 
ning with  the  first  Sunday  in  Advent,  or  that  the  num- 
ber of  vestrymen  be  changed  to  three,  six,  or  nine,  and 
that  the  terms  of  office  of  the  church  wardens  be  changed 
so  that  one  warden  shall  be  elected  annually,  notice  of 
such  recommendation  or  recommendations  shall  be  in- 
cluded in  the  notice  of  the  next  annual  election  of  such 
parish,  and  be  submitted  to  the  meeting.  If  such  recom- 
mendation or  recommendations  be  ratified  by  such  meet- 
ing, the  presiding  officer  thereof,  and  at  least  two  quali- 
fied voters  present  thereat,  shall  execute  and  acknowl- 
edge a  certificate  setting  forth  such  resolution  of  the 
vestry;  the  fact  that  notice  thereof  had  been  given  with 
the  notice  of  the  annual  meeting;  that  such  meeting  had 
ratified  the  same;  the  date  determined  upon  for  the  an- 
nual election  of  the  parish;  the  number  of  vestrymen  so 
decided  on;  and  the  fact  that  the  meeting  determined  to 
thereafter  elect  church  wardens,  so  that  the  term  of  one 
warden  shall  expire  annually.  Such  certificate  shall  be 
filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  in  which  the 
original  certificate  of  incorporation  is  filed  and  recorded. 
If  the  meeting  determined  to  change  the  date  of  the  an- 
nual election,  the  next  annual  election  shall  be  held  on 
the  day  in  the  week  beginning  with  the  first  Sunday  in 
Advent,  determined  on  by  such  meeting,  and  the  terms  of 
the  vestrymen  and  church  wardens  which,  pursuant  to 
law,  would  expire  at  the  next  annual  election,  shall  ex- 
pire and  their  successors  shall  be  elected  on  such  day.  If 
the  meeting  determine  to  change  the  number  of  vestry- 
men and  manner  of  electing  wardens  and  vestrymen, 
there  shall  be  elected  at  the  first  annual  election  there- 
after, one-third  of  the  number  of  vestrymen  so  deter- 
mined on,  to  hold  office  for  three  years;  one-third  thereof 
to  hold  office  for  two  years,  and  one-third  thereof  to  hold 


Protestant  Episcopal  Churches.  59 

office  for  one  year;  and  one  church  warden  to  hold  oflBce 
for  one  year,  and  one  to  hold  office  for  two  years;  and 
thereafter,  at  the  annual  election,  there  shall  be  elected 
one-third  of  the  number  of  vestrymen  determined  on  at 
such  meeting,  and  one  church  warden. 

Changing  the  qualifications  of  voters  and  the  qualifi- 
cations of  wardens  and  vestrymen. — If  the  vestry  of  a 
Protestant  Episcopal  parish  heretofore  incorporated  shall 
by  resolution  recommend  that  the  qualifications  of  voters 
and  the  qualifications  of  wardens  and  vestrymen  be 
changed  to  conform  in  both  cases  to  the  requirements 
of  section  thirty-three  of  this  statute,  notice  of  such  rec- 
ommendation or  recommendations  shall  be  included  in 
the  notice  of  the  next  annual  election  of  such  parish,  and 
be  submitted  to  the  meeting.  If  such  recommendation 
or  recommendations  be  ratified  by  such  meeting,  the  pre- 
siding officer  thereof  and  at  least  two  qualified  voters 
present  thereat,  shall  execute  and  acknowledge  a  certifi- 
cate setting  forth  such  resolution  of  the  vestry,  the  fact 
that  notice  thereof  had  been  given  with  the  notice  of  such 
annual  election,  and  that  the  meeting  had  ratified  the 
same.  Such  certificate  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the 
clerk  of  the  county  in  which  the  original  certificate  of  in- 
corporation is  filed  and  recorded.  Chap.  358,  Laws  of 
1898.     Approved  April  20. 


REFORMED  DUTCH,  PRESBYTERIAN,  REFORMED 

PRESBYTERIAN,  AND  EVANGELICAL 

LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 

The  title  of  article  four  of  chapter  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-three  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  (entitled,  "  An  act  in  relation  to  religious  corpora- 
tions, constituting  chapter  forty-two  of  the  general  laws," 
is  hereby  amended  to  read  as  follows:  Special  provisions 
for  the  incorporation  and  government  of  Reformed  Dutch, 
Presbyterian,  Reformed  Presbyterian,  and  Lutheran 
Churches. 

Section  61  of  such  law  is  hereby  amended  to  read  as 
follows: 

Decision  by  Lutheran  and  Presbyterian  churches  as  to 
the  system  of  incorporation  and  government. — A  meet- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  an  unincorporated 
Evangelical  Lutherar  Church  or  an  unincorporated  Pres- 
byterian church  in  connection  with  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  must  be  called 
and  held  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  the  next  article 
of  this  chapter,  except  that  the  first  business  of  such 
meeting  after  its  organization  shall  be  to  determine 
whether  such  church  shall  be  incorporated  and  governed 
in  pursuance  of  this  article,  or  in  pursuance  of  the  next 
article  of  this  chapter.  If  such  meeting  determines  that 
such  church  shall  be  incorporated  and  governed  in  pur- 
suance of  this  article,  then  no  further  proceeding  shall  be 
taken  in  pursuance  of  the  next  article,  and  such  church 
may  be  incorporated  and  shall  be  governed  after  its  in- 
corporation in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  the  follow- 
ing sections  of  this  article,  except  such  provisions  as  are 
applicable  only  to  churches  of  a  different  denomination; 
and  the  certificate  of  incorporation  shall  recite  such  de- 
termination of  such  meeting.  If  such  church  is  an  unin- 
corporated Presbyterian  church  in  connection  with  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
such  meeting  determine  that  it  shall  be  incorporated  and 
governed  in  pursuance  of  this  article,  then  the  meeting 


Reformed,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran.  61 

shall  also  determine  whether  by  virtue  of  their  office  the 
deacons  only  of  such  church,  or  the  pastor,  elders,  and 
deacons  of  such  church,  or  the  pastors  and  elders  of  such 
church,  shall  be  the  trustees  of  such  corporation;  and  the 
certificate  of  the  incorporation  shall  recite  such  deter- 
mination of  such  meeting.  If  such  meeting  determine 
that  such  church  shall  be  incorporated  and  governed  in 
pursuance  of  the  next  article  of  this  chapter,  then  this 
article  shall  not  be  applicable  thereto,  but  such  church 
may  be  incorporated,  and  shall  be  governed  after  its  in- 
corporation in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  the  next  ar- 
ticle of  this  chapter,  except  such  provisions  as  are  appli- 
cable to  churches  of  a  single  religious  denomination  only. 
—Chap.  190,  Laws  1896. 

Section  62,  Chap.  723,  laws  1895,  is  amended  so  as  to 
read  as  follows: 

Incorporation  of  Reformed  Dutch,  Presbyterian,  Re- 
formed Presbyterian,  and  Evangelical  Lutheran  churches 
under  this  article. — If  an  unincorporated  church  in  con- 
nection with  the  Keformed  Church  in  America,  the  true 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  or  with  the  Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran  Church,  determine  to  incorporate  in  pur- 
suance of  this  article,  the  minister  or  ministers  and  elders 
and  deacons  thereof,  or  if  a  Presbyterian  church  in  con- 
nection with  the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  the  officers  determined  upon  as  the  trustees 
thereof  by  the  meeting  for  incorporation,  or  such  of  them 
as  may  be  in  office,  shall  execute,  acknowledge,  and  cause 
to  be  filed  and  recorded,  a  certificate  in  pursuance  of  this 
article.  The  deacons  of  a  Reformed  Presbyterian  church 
may  alone  sign  such  certificate  if  authorized  so  to  do  by 
such  church.  Such  certificate  of  incorporation  shall  state 
the  name  of  the  proposed  corporation,  the  county  and 
town,  city,  or  village,  where  its  principal  place  of  worship 
is  or  is  intended  to  be  located,  and,  if  it  be  an  Evangelical 
Lutheran  church,  or  a  Presbyterian  church  in  connection 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  the  fact  that  a  meeting  of  such  church,  duly 


62  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

called,  decided  that  it  be  incorporated  under  this  article. 
If  it  be  signed  by  the  deacons  of  a  Reformed  Presbyte- 
rian church,  it  shall  state  that  they  were  authorized  so  to 
do  by  such  church.  If  it  be  the  certificate  of  a  Presby- 
terian church  in  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  it  shall  recite  that  the  of- 
ficers signing  such  certificate  were  determined  upon  by 
the  meeting  for  incorporation  to  be  the  trustees  of  such 
corporation.  On  filing  such  certificate  such  church  shall 
be  a  corporation  by  the  name  stated  therein,  and  the 
minister  or  ministers,  if  any,  and  the  elders  and  deacons 
of  such  church  shall,  by  virtue  of  their  offices,  be  the  trus- 
tees of  such  corporation,  except  that  if  it  be  a  Reformed 
Presbyterian  church,  the  certificate  of  incorporation  of 
which  shall  have  been,  in  pursuance  of  law,  signed  by  its 
deacons  only,  the  deacons  of  such  church  shall,  by  virtue 
of  their  offices,  be  the  trustees  of  such  corporation;  and 
except  that  if  it  be  a  Presbyterian  church  in  connection 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  the  officers  determined  upon  by  the  meeting  for 
incorporation  shall,  by  virtue  of  their  offices,  be  the  trus- 
tees of  such  corporation. — Chap.  190,  Laws  1896. 

Section  66,  Chap.  723,  laws  1895,  is  amended  to  read  as 
follows: 

Evangelical  Lutheran  and  Presbyterian  churches,  chang- 
ing system  of  electing  trustees. — If  the  trustees  of  an 
incorporated  Evangelical  Lutheran  church,  or  an  incor- 
porated Presbyterian  church  in  connection  with  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  shall 
at  any  time  be  elective  in  pursuance  of  the  next  article  of 
this  chapter,  the  church  may,  at  an  annual  corporate 
meeting,  if  notice  thereof  be  given  with  the  notice  of  such 
meeting,  determine,  if  an  Evangelical  Lurheran  church, 
that  the  minister  or  ministers  and  elders  and  deacons 
thereof,  or  the  pastor  and  elders  thereof,  shall  there- 
after constitute  the  trustees  thereof,  and  thereon  the 
trustees  of  such  church  shall  sign,  acknowledge  and 
cause  to  be  filed  and  recorded,  a  certificate  stating  the 
fact  of  such  determination,  and  if  an  Evangelical  Luth- 


Reformed,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran.  63 

eran  church,  that  the  minister  or  ministers  and  elders 
and  deacons  thereof,  or  the  pastor  and  the  elders  and 
deacons  thereof,  or  the  pastor  and  elders  thereof,  shall 
thereafter  constitute  the  trustees  thereof,  and  thereon 
the  trustees  of  such  church  shall  sign,  acknowledge,  and 
cause  to  be  filled  and  recorded  a  certificate  stating  the 
fact  of  such  determination,  and  if  an  Evangelical  Luth- 
eran church,  the  names  of  the  minister  or  ministers,  if 
any,  and  of  the  elders  and  deacons  of  such  church,  or,  if 
a  Presbyterian  church  in  connection  with  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  the  names 
of  the  ofiicers  determined  upon  to  be  the  ex-ofiicio  trus- 
tees therof ;  and  thereon  the  terms  of  office  of  such  elective 
trustees  shall  cease,  and  the  minister  or  ministers  and  the 
elders  and  deacons  of  such  church,  if  an  Evangelical 
Lutheran  church,  or  the  officers  determined  upon  by  such 
corporate  meeting;  if  a  Presbyterian  church  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  their  successors  in  office  shall,  by  virtue 
of  their  respective  offices,  be  the  trustees  of  such  church. 
If  at  any  time  the  officers  of  an  incorporated  Evangelical 
Lutheran  church,  or  an  incorporated  Presbyterian 
church  in  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  which  officers,  by  virtue  of  the 
offices,  constitute  the  trustees  thereof,  shall  determine  to 
submit  to  a  meeting  of  such  church  corporation  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  trustees  of  such  church  shall  be  there- 
after elective  in  pursuance  of  the  next  article  of  this  chap- 
ter, they  shall  cause  a  corporate  meeting  of  such  church  to 
be  called  and  held  in  the  manner  provided  by  sections 
eighty-four  and  eighty-five  of  chapter  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-three  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety- 
five,  and  also  whether  the  number  of  trustees  shall  be 
three,  six,  or  nine,  and  the  date  of  the  annual  corporate 
meeting  of  the  church.  If  such  meeting  shall  determine 
that  such  trustees  shall  thereafter  be  elective,  the  presid- 
ing officer  thereof  and  at  least  two  other  persons  present 
and  voting  thereat,  shall  sign,  acknowledge,  and  cause  to 
be  filed  and  recorded  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county 


64  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

in  which  the  certificate  of  incorporation  of  such  church  is 
filed,  a  certificate  of  such  determination  of  such  meeting; 
and  thereafter  the  trustees  of  such  church  shall  be  elec- 
tive in  pursuance  of  the  next  article  of  this  chapter.  At 
the  next  annual  corporate  meeting  after  the  filing  of  such 
certificate,  one-third  of  the  number  of  trustees  so  deter- 
mined on  shall  be  elected  to  hold  office  for  one  year,  one- 
third  for  two  years,  and  one-third  for  three  years,  and  the 
officers  of  such  church  shall  then  cease  to  be  such  trus- 
tees, and  thereafter  article  five  of  chapter  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-three  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-five  shall  apply  to  such  church.  At  each  subse- 
quent annual  corporate  meeting  of  such  church,  one-third 
of  the  number  of  trustees  so  determined  on  shall  be 
elected  to  hold  office  for  three  years. — Chap.  190,  Laws 
1896. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  AND  GREEK  CHURCHES. 

Incorporation    of    Roman    Catholic  and    Greek   Churches. 

— An  unincorporated  Roman  Catholic  church,  or  an  unin- 
corporated Christian  Orthodox  Catholic  church  of  the 
Eastern  Confession,  in  this  State  may  become  incorpor- 
ated as  a  church  by  executing,  acknowledging  and  filing  a 
certificate  of  incorporation,  stating  the  corporate  name 
by  which  such  church  shall  be  known,  and  the  county, 
town,  city,  or  village  where  its  principal  place  of  worship 
is,  or  is  intended  to  be  located. 

A  certificate  of  incorporation  of  an  unincorporated 
Roman  Catholic  church  shall  be  executed  and  acknowl- 
edged by  the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  or  Bishop,  and 
the  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese  in  which  its  place  of  wor- 
ship is,  and  by  the  rector  of  the  church,  and  by  two  lay- 
men, members  of  such  church,  who  shall  be  selected  by 
such  officials,  or  by  a  majority  of  such  officials. 

A  certificate  of  incorporation  of  an  unincorporated 
Christian  Orthodox  Catholic  church  of  the  Eastern  Con- 
fession shall  be  executed  and  acknowledged  by  the  Envoy- 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  and  the 
Consul-General  of  Russia  to  the  United  States,  then  ack- 
nowledged and  received  as  such  by  the  United  States. 

On  filing  such  certificate  such  church  shall  be  a  cor- 
poration by  the  name  stated  in  the  certificate. 

Qovernment  of  incorporated    Roman   Catholic  and   Greek 

Churches The  Archbishop  or  Bishop  and  the  Yicar-Gen- 

eral  of  the  diocese  to  which  any  incorporated  Roman 
Catholic  church  belongs,  the  rector  of  such  church,  and 
their  successors  in  office,  shall,  by  virtue  of  their  offices, 
be  trustees  of  such  church.  Two  laymen,  members  of 
such  incorporated  church,  selected  by  such  officers  or  a 
majority  of  them,  shall  also  be  trustees  of  such  incor- 
porated church,  and  such  officers  and  such  laymen  trus- 
tees shall  together  constitute  the  board  of  trustees  there- 
of. The  two  laymen  signing  the  certificate  of  incorpora- 
tion of  an  unincorporated  Roman  Catholic  church  shall 
be  the  two  laymen  trustees  thereof  during  the  first  year 


66  Civil  Church  Law — New  Yorlc. 

of  its  corporate  existence.  The  term  of  office  of  the  two 
laymen  trustees  of  an  incorporated  Roman  Catholic 
church  shall  be  one  year.  Whenever  the  office  of  any 
such  layman  trustee  shall  become  vacant  by  expiration 
of  term  of  office  or  otherwise,  his  successor  shall  be  ap- 
pointed from  members  of  the  church,  by  such  officers  or 
a  majority  of  them.  No  act  or  proceeding  of  the  trustees 
of  any  such  incorporated  church  shall  be  valid  without 
the  sanction  of  the  Archbishop  or  Bishop  of  the  diocese 
to  which  such  church  belongs,  or  in  case  of  their  absence 
or  inability  to  act,  without  the  sanction  of  the  Vicar-Gen- 
eral or  of  the  administrator  of  such  diocese. 

The  Envoy-Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
and  the  Consul-General  of  Russia  to  the  United  States 
acknowledged  and  received  as  such,  and  their  successors 
in  office  shall,  by  virtue  of  office,  be  the  trustees  of  every 
incorporated  Christian  Orthodox  Catholic  church  of  the 
Eastern  Confession  in  this  State.  The  trustees  of  any 
such  church  shall  nave  the  power  to  fix  and  change  the 
salary  of  the  rector  and  his  assistant,  appointed  or  com- 
missioned according  to  the  rules  and  usages  of  the  de- 
nomination to  which  such  church  belongs. — Chap.  723, 
Laws  1895. 


SHAKERS  AND  FRIENDS. 

Trusts  for  Shakers  and  Friends. — All  deeds  or  declar- 
ations of  trust  of  real  or  personal  property,  executed  and 
delivered  before  January  first,  eighteen  hundred  and 
thirty,  or  since  May  fifth,  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine,  to  any  person  in  trust  for  any  united  society  of 
Shakers,  or  heretofore  executed  and  delivered,  shall  be 
vested  in  three  trustees  the  legal  estates  and  religious 
society  of  Friends,  shall  be  valid.  Trusts  of  real  and  per- 
sonal property,  for  the  benefit  and  use  of  the  members  of 
any  united  society  of  Shakers,  or  of  any  meeting  of  the 
religious  society  of  Friends,  may  hereafter  be  created,  ac- 
cording to  the  religious  constitution  of  such  society  of 
Shakers,  or  the  regulations  and  rules  of  discipline  of  such 
society  of  Friends.  Such  deeds  or  declarations  of  trust, 
heretofore  or  hereafter  executed  and  delivered,  shall  vest 
in  the  trustees  the  legal  estates  and  interests  purported  to 
be  conveyed  or  declared  thereby,  to  and  for  the  uses  and 
purposes  declared  therein;  and  such  legal  estates  and 
trusts,  and  all  legal  authority  with  which  the  original 
trustees  were  vested  by  virtue  of  their  appointment  and 
conferred  powers,  shall  descend  to  their  successors  in 
office  or  trust,  who  may  be  chosen  in  conformity  to  the 
constitution  of  such  society,  or  the  direction  of  such  meet- 
ing. This  section  does  not  impair  or  diminish  the  rights 
of  any  person,  meeting,  or  association  claiming  to  be  a 
meeting,  had  to  any  real  or  personal  property  held  in 
trust  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  any  meeting  of  such  so- 
ciety, before  the  division  of  such  society  which  took  place 
at  the  annual  meeting  held  in  the  city  of  New  York  in 
May,  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-eight.  No  society  of 
Shakers,  or  meeting  of  Friends,  shall  become  beneficially 
interested  in  real  or  personal  property,  the  clear  annual 
value  or  income  of  which  exceeds  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  No  person  shall  be  a  trustee  at  the  same  time  of 
more  than  one  society  of  Shakers  or  meeting  of  Friends. 
A  society  of  Shakers  includes  all  persons  of  the  religious 
belief  of  the  people  called  Shakers,  resident  within  the 
same  county.    Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 


68  Civil  Church  Law — Neiv  Yorl'. 

Conveyance  of  trust  property  of  friends. — ^The  trus- 
tee or  trustees,  or  the  survivor  of  any  trustees,  of  any 
meeting  of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends,  appointed 
pursuant  to  the  last  preceding  section,  may  sell,  convey, 
and  grant  or  demise  any  or  all  of  the  trust  property  de- 
scribed in  said  trust  deed  or  declaration  of  trust,  to  any 
person  absolutely  or  in  trust  for  such  meeting,  whenever 
any  meeting  of  said  society  by  resolution  so  directs.  Any 
conveyance  of  real  estate  or  property  so  held  in  trust  by  a 
meeting  of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends,  which  is  here- 
after made  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  such  meeting 
as  provided  herein,  shall  be  as  valid  and  effectual  for  the 
conveyance  of  the  title  of  any  real  estate  so  held  in  trust 
as  if  the  heirs  of  any  trustee  who  has  died  prior  to  the 
passage  of  such  resolution  had  joined  in  the  execution  of 
such  conveyance  or  demise.  Any  instrument  for  the  sale 
or  demise  of  such  property  shall  embody  such  resolution, 
and  be  executed  by  such  trustee  or  trustees;  and  in  such 
acknowledgment  such  trustee  or  trustees  shall  make  an 
affidavit  that  the  person  or  persons  executing  such  con- 
veyance or  demise  are  the  trustee  or  trustees  of  the  trust 
property,  and  that  the  resolution  embodied  in  such  con- 
veyance or  demise  was  duly  passed  by  such  meeting. 
Such  affidavit  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  the  facts 
therein  stated.    Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 


UNION  CHURCHES. 

Incorporation  of  a  union  churcli. — Two  or  more  unin- 
corporated churches,  which  separately  agree  on  a  plan 
of  union  and  determine  to  meet  together  for  the  purpose 
of  being  incorporated  as  a  union  church,  may  be  incor- 
porated as  a  union  church  in  pursuance  of  the  preceding 
provisions,  and  thereafter  such  union  church  shall  be 
governed  by  such  provisions  as  near  as  may  be,  except  as 
otherwise  provided.  A  notice  of  such  joint  meeting  shall 
be  given  to  the  congregation  of  each  church,  in  pursuance 
to  the  preceding  provisions  relating  to  notice  of  meeting 
for  incorporation  in  every  respect,  as  if  it  were  a  notice 
of  a  meeting  for  the  separate  incorporation  of  such  church 
under  such  provisions,  except  that  the  notice  shall  state  in 
substance  that  a  joint  meeting  of  such  incorporated 
churches,  which  shall  be  specified  in  the  notice,  will  be 
held  for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  such  churches  as  a 
union  church,  and  electing  trustees  thereof  at  a  time  and 
place  specified  in  the  notice,  which  place  may  be  the  usual 
place  of  worship  of  either  of  such  churches,  or  any  other 
reasonably  convenient  place.  Such  notice  must  be 
signed  by  at  least  six  persons  from  each  of  such  churches 
who  would  be  authorized  to  sign  a  notice  for  the  meeting 
of  each  church,  respectively,  for  the  purpose  of  incorpor- 
ating it  under  such  provisions. 

The  preceding  provisions  shall  be  applicable  to  the 
organization  and  conduct  of  such  meeting,  the  matters 
to  be  determined  upon,  and  the  certificate  of  incorpora- 
tion to  be  executed  and  filed  accordingly,  except  that  the 
presiding  officer  of  such  joint  meeting  shall  be  the  oldest 
person  present  at  such  meeting  who  would  be  entitled 
to  preside  at  a  meeting  of  either  of  such  churches  singly 
for  the  purposes  of  incorporation  in  pursuance  of  such 
provisions.  All  persons  who  would  be  qualified  to  vote 
at  such  meeting  of  either  of  such  churches  held  singly 
shall  be  qualified  voters  at  such  joint  meeting,  and  the 
number  of  trustees  of  the  union  church  after  incorpora- 
tion, to  be  selected  from  each  such  church,  may  be  agreed 


70  Civil  Church  Law — New  York. 

on  by  such  unincorporated  churches,  and  the  trustees 
shall  be  selected  by  each  of  such  churches  accordingly. 

The  certificate  of  incorporation  shall  set  forth  the  plan 
of  union  agreed  on  and  the  number  of  trustees  of  the  in- 
corporated union  church  to  be  selected  by  each  unincor- 
porated church. — Chap.  723.  Laws  1895. 

Government  of  incorporated  union  churches. — Any 
union  church  or  society  having  a  common  place  of  wor- 
ship, or  holding  property  belonging  jointly  to  the  several 
societies  composing  the  same,  but  the  sole  right  of  oc- 
cupancy of  which  is  reserved  to  each  of  them  in  pro- 
portion to  their  interest  in  such  property,  or  the  money 
originally  paid  therefor  by  each,  or  in  accordance  with 
their  plan  of  union  agreed  on,  may,  if  any  one  or  more  of 
the  churches  or  societies  comprising  such  union  church  or 
society  has  ceased  to  exist,  on  the  request  of  such  remain- 
ing churches  or  society,  redistribute  and  divide  the  time  of 
occupancy  among  such  remaining  societies  in  proportion 
to  their  contributions  to  such  property  respectively,  or  in 
accordance  with  a  new  plan  of  union  agreed  on  by  them. 
Such  redistribution  shall  be  made  by  the  trustees  of  said 
union  church  or  society  on  written  notice  to  the  societies 
which  it  is  alleged  have  ceased  to  exist;  but  no  such  so- 
ciety shall  be  deemed  to  have  ceased  to  exist  unless  it  has 
failed  or  neglected  for  a  period  of  five  consecutive  years 
next  preceding  such  request  for  redistribution,  to  hold 
meetings,  and  have  a  clerk  or  secretary,  and  keep  a  list  or 
registry  of  its  members,  or  to  have  preaching,  prayer,  or 
conference  meetings,  or  other  religious  services  in  keep- 
ing with  the  usages  of  the  denomination  to  which  it  be- 
longs. 

Any  one  of  the  societies  composing  a  union  church  or 
society  which  shall  have  built  a  church  edifice  in  the  same 
village  or  neighborhood  in  which  it  holds  its  religious 
services  shall  not  thereby  lose  or  forfeit  in  any  way  any  of 
its  rights  or  privileges  in  such  union  society,  and  the 
maintaining  of  divine  worship,  or  contributing  to  its  sup- 
port in  its  own  building  shall  be  regarded  the  same  as  if 
it  held  its  meetings  in  the  church  building  of  such  union 


Union  Churches.  71 

societies.  Any  notice  for  the  election  of  trustees  of  the 
union  society  or  for  any  other  purpose  which  the  law  re- 
quires to  be  read  or  given  at  the  time  of  divine  service, 
may  be  read  or  given  in  the  church  edifice  so  built  by 
any  one  of  such  societies,  if  at  the  time  religious  services 
are  not  held  in  the  church  edifice  of  such  union  society. 
But  such  notice  must  be  posted  on  the  outer  door  of  such 
union  church  edifice  at  least  fifteen  days  before  the  meet- 
ing. If  any  society  composing  any  such  church  union 
or  society  has  a  greater  interest  in  the  occupancy  of  the 
church  building  than  others,  unless  the  several  churches 
composing  the  union  church  or  society  have  agreed  other- 
wise, the  number  of  trustees  shall  be  odd,  and  the  trustees 
shall  be  elected  from  such  societies  in  proportion  to  their 
respective  interests  in  the  union,  church,  or  society,  as 
nearly  as  may  be.  Any  society  composing  such  union, 
church,  or  society,  which  has  built  for  itself  a  church  edi- 
fice and  become  incorporated,  may  sell  its  interest  and 
right  of  occupancy  in  such  union  society,  and  convey  the 
same,  when  authorized  so  to  do  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
the  voters  thereof  qualified  to  vote  for  union  trustees,  at  a 
special  meeting  called  for  that  purpose.  The  proceeds 
of  such  sale  shall  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  its  church 
property.     Chap.  723,  Laws  1895. 


UNITED  BRETHREN  IN  CHRIST. 

Trustees  of  a  church  in  connection  with  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ. — If  any  church  connected  with  the 
denomination  known  as  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ 
shall  neglect  or  omit  to  elect  trustees  at  any  annual  elec- 
tion at  which  trustees  should  have  been  elected,  the 
quarterly  conference  of  the  circuit,  station,  or  mission 
of  such  denomination  may  elect  such  trustees  for  full 
terms,  or  to  fill  vacancies,  in  accordance  with  the  rules 
and  usages  of  such  denomination. — Chap.  723,  Laws 
1895. 


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